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US President George W. Bush says no shift
on Iraq
13.7.2007
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July
13, 2007
WASHINGTON, -- President George W. Bush put
off changing course in Iraq for at least two months
on Thursday but the U.S. House of Representatives
signaled its frustration by calling for combat
troops to leave by April.
An interim White House report released just before
Bush spoke gave the Iraqi government a mixed review
in meeting political and security goals -- providing
more ammunition for war opponents demanding that
Bush start ending U.S. military involvement.
In a symbolic move, the Democratic-controlled House
voted 223-201 to approve legislation to bring combat
troops out of Iraq by April 1, 2008.
Defying a veto threat from Bush, House Democrats
hope the vote will put pressure on the Senate to
attach a similar troop withdrawal timetable to a
military policy bill it is debating.
Two previous efforts either died in the Senate or
were vetoed by Bush. |
President Bush gestures as he answers questions
during his news conference in the Brady Briefing
Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday,
July 12, 2007 AP |
Trying to buy time in the face of a growing revolt
among fellow Republicans over his Iraq strategy,
Bush urged lawmakers to withhold judgment until he
receives a broader assessment in September from Gen.
David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, and U.S.
Ambassador Ryan Crocker.
"We'll also have a clearer picture of how the new
strategy is unfolding, and be in a better position
to judge where we need to make any adjustments,"
Bush told a news conference.
Bush conceded that "war fatigue" had set in among
the American public and Congress but that it was
premature to talk about bringing U.S. forces home,
less than a month after all of an additional 28,000
troops had arrived as part of a new attempt to boost
security.
Signaling the next report could be pivotal, Bush
said he would consider "making another decision, if
need be" at that time.
Holding his first news conference in nearly two
months, Bush's tone was at times strident, at times
beseeching, as he defended the U.S. role in a war
that has claimed the lives of more than 3,600 U.S.
troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis.
A USA Today/Gallup poll this week showed more than
seven in 10 Americans favor withdrawing nearly all
U.S. troops by April, and several surveys show
Bush's approval ratings the lowest of any American
president in decades.
Bush said he understood opposition to the war but he
was the commander-in-chief and would rely on his
generals' advice.
"I guess I'm like any other political figure.
Everybody wants to be loved -- just sometimes the
decisions you make and the consequences don't enable
you to be loved," Bush said.
REPUBLICANS BREAKING RANKS
To demonstrate U.S. commitment to the Middle East,
Bush said he would send Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates
to the region in early August.
The White House report is being sent to Congress
after several prominent Republicans have broken
ranks with Bush on Iraq, adding momentum to
Democratic-led efforts to try to force a
scaling-back of troop levels more than four years
after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam
Hussein.
Sen. John Warner, a Virginia Republican, said in a
statement on Thursday that the Iraqi "government is
simply not providing leadership worthy of the
considerable sacrifice of our forces, and this has
to change immediately."
Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, a Nevada
Democrat, said the White House report confirmed the
Iraq war was "headed in a dangerous direction."
"The Iraqi government has not met the key political
benchmarks it has set for itself and Iraqi security
forces continue to lag well behind expectations," he
said.
In another day of violence, a suicide bomber killed
seven guests at a policeman's wedding in northern
Iraq. In Baghdad, an Iraqi photographer and driver
working for Reuters were killed in what police said
was U.S. military action and which witnesses
described as a helicopter attack.
Drafted with leading contributions from Petraeus and
Crocker, the report gave the Iraqi government a
satisfactory grade on eight of 18 goals set by
Congress. It showed that on eight of the benchmarks,
Baghdad's performance was unsatisfactory, and mixed
on two others.
"The White House has spun it cautiously," said
Daniel Byman, a security analyst at Georgetown
University. "They're portraying it as a glass that's
half full. I would say the glass is at best a
quarter or a fifth full."
Braced for criticism, Bush said: "Those who believe
that the battle in Iraq is lost will likely point to
the unsatisfactory performance on some of the
political benchmarks. But he added: "Those of us who
believe the battle in Iraq can and must be won see
the satisfactory performance on several of the
security benchmarks as a cause for optimism."
The interim report showed limited progress by the
Iraqi government in meeting goals for political
reconciliation such as passing a law to share oil
revenues. It also painted a picture of Iraqi
security forces still plagued by sectarianism and
heavily dependent on U.S. troops to conduct
operations.
Reuters
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