Bush defends troop build-up in Iraq
President Bush today defended his build-up of forces in Iraq and pledged to “hang in there” with Iraqis despite calls from Congress to get troops home.
At an Asia-Pacific summit in Sydney, Australia, Bush gave no indication he planned to reverse the build-up of 30,000 extra US troops anytime soon. That increase is set to end in the spring, and while some troop adjustments could be on the horizon, Bush said nothing to indicate he would end it early.
“There’s more work to be done, but reconciliation is taking place,” Bush said standing alongside Australian Prime Minister John Howard, a staunch US ally in the war.
“It’s important, in my judgment, for the security of America, or for the security of Australia, that we hang in there with the Iraqis and help them,” he said.
Howard gave Bush a prominent boost of support. He pledged not to reduce or withdraw the 1,600 Australian forces in Iraq, although he said they might take on more of a training role.
“I made it very clear to the president that our commitment to Iraq remains,” Howard said. “Australian forces will remain at their present levels in Iraq not based on any calendar, but based on conditions in the ground.”
Howard, however, might not have the final word on Australia’s involvement in Iraq. Opposition leader Kevin Rudd, who is ahead of Howard in the polls for the upcoming election, said he wants Australian troops out of Iraq. Bush meets with Rudd later this week, but gave Howard some support in return, saying people shouldn’t “count the man out”.
Bush arrived at the Asian-Pacific Economic Forum after his surprise visit to Anbar Province in western Iraq, where he was briefed by Iraqi and US officials, including Gen. David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, US ambassador to Baghdad.
Administration officials said Petraeus and Crocker were recommending that Bush stand by his current war strategy. The officials also said the president was unlikely to order more than a symbolic cut in troops before the end of the year.
In testimony next week, Petraeus and Crocker are to give Congress their assessment of the effectiveness of Bush’s troop build-up, which was designed to bolster security to allow time for Iraq’s Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds to reconcile their differences.
Bush acknowledged that political progress in Iraq is lagging, but said he saw evidence of progress. That was largely at odds with the Government Accountability Office, which was reporting back in Washington that Iraq had failed to meet 11 of its 18 political and security goals.
Sticking to an upbeat assessment of the war, Bush spoke forcefully about the additional American troops he sent to Iraq this year. The US troop presence is about 160,000.
“If I didn’t think we could succeed, I wouldn’t have our troops there,” he said.
Bush’s troop increase will end by default in April or May, when one of the added brigades is due to leave, unless Bush makes other changes to hold the number steady.
