No timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, says Bush
US President George Bush today rejected calls for a timetable for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
“Setting an artificial timetable would send the wrong message to the Iraqis,” said President Bush. “We will stay in Iraq as long as we are needed and not a day longer.”
In an evening address from Fort Bragg army base in North Carolina, Bush also ruled out sending more troops into the region.
“Sending more Americans would undermine our strategy of encouraging Iraqis to take the lead in this fight.
“As the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down.”
Bush acknowledged that many questioned the wisdom of America’s involvement in the 27-month-old war, during which more than 1,700 Americans have died.
“Like most Americans, I see the images of violence and bloodshed,” said Bush. “Every picture is horrifying and the suffering is real.”
“Amid all this violence, I know Americans ask the question: Is the sacrifice worth it?
“It is worth it, and it is vital to the future security of our country.”
Bush also announced new steps the US military is taking to prepare Iraqi security forces to take over the battle against insurgents.
These included conducting operations together with Iraqi units, embedding US transition teams inside Iraqi units and intensive management training inside the Iraqi defence and interior ministries.
At the same time, he aimed to convince sceptical Americans that his “clear path forward” to victory needed only time – not any changes - to be successful.
Bush said the US faced an enemy that had made Iraq the central front in the war on terror.
Fighters have been captured from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Libya and other nations, he said.
He described the fighters in raw terms, calling them “ruthless killers” who committed “savage acts of violence” on innocents. He said the terrorists would not shake US resolve in Iraq or elsewhere.
“The terrorists do not understand America. The American people do not falter under threat – and we will not allow our future to be determined by car bombers and assassins,” he said.
“The only way our enemies can succeed is if we forget the lessons of September 11 – if we abandon the Iraqi people to men like Zarqawi and if we yield the future of the Middle East to men like bin Laden.”
He referred to fugitive terror leaders Osama bin Laden, whom the US holds responsible for the September 11, 2001, terror attacks; and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian responsible for scores of attacks in Iraq.
“For the sake of our nation’s security, this will not happen on my watch,” Bush said.
“Our progress has been uneven – but progress is being made.”
Democrats and other critics said the country needed more specifics.
“We just don’t have a clue what the criteria for success is,” said Democratic Representative John Murtha of Pennsylvania, a Vietnam combat veteran.
“People are still willing to give the president time if he would just level with them. You can’t just present a rosy scenario as if everything is going to be all right.”
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