Bush defends post-war Iraq strategy
George Bush today dismissed critics who accused his administration of poor post-war planning for Iraq.
“Obviously, I think they’re going badly for the soldiers who lost their lives, and I weep for that person and their family. But no, I think we’re making good progress,” the US president said in a taped interview on the Fox Broadcast Network.
On or since May 1, when Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, 164 US soldiers have died in Iraq. Bush said he was referring to “major military actions” – “tight movement armoured divisions and massive air strikes”.
He said he had warned Americans on May 1 that Iraq remained a “dangerous” place, yet he maintained that his administration had not underestimated the post-war violence.
“Like any other situation, we weren’t exactly sure as to the nature of the terror that was being inflicted upon the people,” he said.
“We know there would be Baathists that would be angry at the fact that they weren’t in power. We knew there was a lot of kind of loose operatives around the country.”
The interview was conducted on Sunday and aired last night, US time, on the eve of Bush’s address to the United Nations, where he will seek to broaden the international body’s role in Iraq and persuade other nations to contribute troops and money.
Bush expressed confidence about the passage of a new resolution, and called French president Jacques Chirac “a strong-willed soul”.
“He and I have had some pretty frank discussions before about issues,” Bush said. “I will continue to remind him, though – and he needs to hear this clearly from me, which he will – that America is a good nation, genuinely good.”
Answering critics who say that a main reason for going to war has not been borne out, Bush said he thought ousted leader Saddam Hussein hid his weapons of mass destruction.
“But I firmly believe he had weapons of mass destruction,” Bush said.
“I know he used them at one time, and I’m confident he had programmes that would enable him to have a weapon of mass destruction at his disposal.”
