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In a
sobering assessment of the Iraq war, US President
Bush acknowledged Monday that Americans' resolve has
been shaken by grisly scenes of death and
destruction and he pointedly criticized the
performance of U.S.-trained Iraqi troops. "No
question about it," he said. "The bombers are having
an effect."
US President Bush answers questions during a press
conference on the White House compound in the
Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Monday, Dec.
20, 2004, in Washington. [AP]
At a year-end news conference, the president also
refused to say whether his strategy for overhauling
Social Security would entail cutting benefits,
raising the retirement age or limiting benefits for
wealthier workers. "Don't bother to ask me," Bush
said, adding that he would not tip his hand until he
starts negotiating with Congress next year.
Bush declined to criticize Russian President
Vladimir Putin despite concerns that he has
strengthened authoritarian controls and backtracked
on post-Soviet democratic reforms. Bush said he has
a good personal relationship with Putin and "I
intend to keep it that way." The United States and
Russia have disagreements, the president added, but
he said the relationship is good.
The president also offered a warm testimonial for
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in the face of
spreading expressions of no-confidence by GOP
senators. Rumsfeld appears "rough and gruff," Bush
said, but "he's a good, decent man. He's a caring
fellow."
For 53 minutes, Bush fielded questions on
international and domestic affairs. It was his 17th
formal news conference, held one day before he flies
to the presidential retreat at Camp David for a
vacation that will stretch into early next year and
include a stay at his Texas ranch.
Bush spoke a day after the deadliest attacks in Iraq
since July — killing at least 54 people in Najaf and
at least 13 in Karbala — and six weeks before Iraqis
vote for a transitional assembly that will choose a
president and a government and draft a permanent
constitution. American newspapers showed chilling
pictures of rebels in the heart of Baghdad executing
election workers in cold blood.
"And so the American people are taking a look at
Iraq and wondering whether the Iraqis are eventually
going to be able to fight off these bombers and
killers," Bush said in perhaps his clearest
expression of frustration with Iraqi forces. Bush's
strategy calls for American troops to protect Iraq
while local police and soldiers are trained to do
the job themselves, eventually allowing the United
States to withdraw.
"Now I would call the results mixed in terms of
standing up Iraqi units who are willing to fight,"
Bush said in a candid assessment. "There have been
some cases where, when the heat got on, they left
the battlefield. That's unacceptable. Iraq will
never secure itself if they have troops that, when
the heat gets on, they leave the battlefield." What
is needed, he said, is a better military command
structure.
Polls show an erosion in Americans' confidence that
a stable, democratic government will be established
in Iraq. "Polls change. Polls go up, polls go down,"
Bush said.
He said he understands why Americans have doubts
about Iraq's ability. "They're looking on your TV
screen and seeing indiscriminate bombings, where
thousands of innocent — or hundreds of innocent
Iraqis are getting killed ..." But Bush said those
pictures do not reflect that 15 of Iraq's 18
provinces are relatively stable and that small
businesses are starting up. "Life is better now than
it was under Saddam Hussein."
"But no question about it. The bombers are having an
effect ... They're trying to shake the will of the
Iraqi people and, frankly, trying to shake the will
of the American people."
Bush warned that insurgents would try to delay
Iraq's elections, scheduled for Jan. 30, and
intimidate the people. "I certainly don't expect the
process to be trouble-free," the president said.
"Yet I am confident of the result. I'm confident
that terrorists will fail, the elections will go
forward and Iraq will be a democracy...." He said he
could not predict when American forces could come
home.
He renewed his warning to Syria and Iran against
"meddling" in Iraq's political process. "I meant it.
And hopefully those governments heard what I said,"
Bush said, without threatening any consequences.
The president expressed fresh hope for peace between
Israel and the Palestinians, saying "we've got a
good chance to get it done." He welcomed efforts by
British Prime Minister Tony Blair to go to the
region this week and make plans for a conference to
help develop a Palestinian state.
Bush said he favored diplomatic approaches — rather
than regime changes — in Iran and North Korea, two
nations that the United States have troubling
nuclear programs. He said diplomacy "must be the
first choice, always the first choice of an
administration trying to solve an issue of ...
nuclear armament."
On Capitol Hill, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi,
D-Calif., disputed Bush's assertion that Social
Security is in crisis. She said the Congressional
Budget Office has concluded that Social Security is
secure for nearly 50 years without any changes. She
challenged Bush to give Congress "a clear and honest
accounting of the difficult trade-offs among benefit
cuts, tax increases and a massive escalation of
record deficits."
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