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Bush prods Iraq's president for progress
3.10.2007
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October
3, 2007
WASHINGTON - President Bush's hour-long
meeting with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on
Tuesday yielded familiar White House assurances that
Iraq's leaders are making progress on unifying their
country. The session did not, however, add any
clarity about when that may happen.
White House press secretary Dana Perino said Bush
made it clear how important it is for Iraq's
parliament to get its work done, but issued no
ultimatum.
Bush often prods Iraq's leadership to make good on
its promises of political reconciliation.
"Given that Iraq is a sovereign country, the
president can push," Perino said. "He did not give
them a specific deadline."
Bush's decision to send thousands more troops into
Iraq early this year was intended to give Iraqi
leaders space to pass key legislation and move
closer to taking control of their country.
Iraqi leaders are working on three laws considered
vital to political stability: equitable distribution
of oil revenues, provincial elections, and
permission for members of Saddam Hussein's ousted
Baath Party to take part in the new government. Bush
says the work is complex and leaders are committed
to it. |
U.S.President Bush, right, reaches out to shake
hands with Iraq President Jalal Talabani, left, in
the Oval Office of the White House in Washington,
Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2007 AP
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In the U.S., lawmakers and the public have grown
tired of waiting as the U.S. death toll in Iraq
grows.
"I understand the frustration and the impatience,"
Perino said. "But I think that they're moving in the
right direction." She said Talabani offered no time
frames, but that "he was hopeful. He said that he
thought that there was a good political environment
right now."
Bush and Talabani did not make comments or take
questions from reporters.
The leaders never discussed the uproar involving the
security firm Blackwater, Perino said. Guards from
the private security company, while protecting a
U.S. diplomatic convoy on Sept. 16, were involved in
a shoot-out that left 11 Iraqis dead. The incident
has complicated U.S.-Iraqi relations.
Perino said the Blackwater incident did not come up,
probably because it is under investigation by
governments of both countries.
Blackwater's chairman strongly defended his private
security company on Tuesday in testimony on Capitol
Hill. Asked if Bush is satisfied with the way
Blackwater is conducting itself, Perino said: "I
don't think that he has any reason to believe that
they're not at the moment conducting themselves
appropriately."
AP
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