Bush to declare end to major combat in Iraq
US President George W Bush is set to announce that major combat in Iraq is over.
The president is due to address the nation about the progress of the war from the deck of a homebound aircraft carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln, at around 2am Irish time tomorrow.
But he will stop short of declaring victory or announcing that the conflict is finished, said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.
Mr Bush waited to hear from General Tommy Franks, commander of the coalition forces in Iraq, before making the speech.
“General Franks told the president that major combat operations have ended and that the next phase has begun, which is the reconstruction of Iraq,” Mr Fleischer said.
He said the president’s words would be chosen carefully to keep from formally declaring the conflict to be over.
Under the Geneva Convention, once war is declared over, the victorious army must release detainees and halt operations targeting enemy leaders.
Mr Fleischer said: “This is not, from a legal point of view, the end of hostilities. Clearly, we continue to have forces that are shot at.”
The USS Abraham Lincoln will be off the California coast when Mr Bush makes the speech.
