U.S. Troops to Stay in Iraq for a While

U.S. occupiers may begin transferring power back to the Iraqi people soon, but American peacekeeping troops will remain in Iraq for some time, President Bush said Friday.

“In terms of security, we will do whatever it takes,” President Bush said after an Oval Office meeting with Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. “We will stay there until the job is done and then we will leave. … And the job is for Iraq to be free and peaceful.”

Bush suggested – but did not directly say – that U.S. forces would remain in Iraq until deposed leader Saddam Hussein is found.

“We will find Saddam Hussein,” the president said. “We are strong and determined and we will be successful.”

However, Secretary of State Colin Powell, in an interview with a Nashville television station, said earlier that the number of U.S. troops is likely to be reduced as Iraq builds its own forces.

With the U.S. death toll in Iraq approaching 400 and some polls showing increasing criticism of Bush’s handling of postwar Iraq, the administration’s aim is to accelerate steps toward an Iraqi takeover and an end to the U.S. occupation.

“It does not mean we would physically leave the country any sooner,” Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told troops Thursday in Guam. “What it means is the Iraqis would begin to take on a greater portion of responsibility for governing themselves sooner.”

Bush said Friday it is appropriate to give Iraqis control more quickly.

“We will work with the Governing Council to speed up the political process in a rational way … on the belief that we’ve made a lot of progress on the ground and that the Governing Council is better prepared for taking over responsibility,” he said.

He also defended the U.S. strategy for fighting back against the increasingly deadly insurgency in Iraq.

“The enemy is changing tactics on the ground so we’re changing our response and that’s what you’re beginning to see,” he said.

Powell, in an interview Thursday with Nashville television station WTVF, said that a buildup of Iraqi forces “will reduce the risk to our troops and allow us to reduce the number of American troops that will be needed.”

But he added: “American presence, military and political presence, will be required for some time to come.” A transcript of Powell’s interview was provided Friday by the State Department.

Powell said the new scenario has “nothing to do with domestic politics.” Bush faces re-election in 2004.

“This rises above domestic politics,” Powell said.

While planning for an Iraqi government continues, the United States has ramped up bombing and other offensive operations against insurgent hideouts in Iraq. And the U.S. Central Command announced Friday that it will beef up its forward headquarters in nearby Qatar.

Bush, Ciampi sitting at his side and mindful of a suicide bombing in Iraq this week that killed 18 Italians serving there, thanked Italy for its contributions to the mission.

“You come at a difficult period for your country,” Bush said. “The work we are doing together is humane and compassion and necessary and I thank the people of Italy.”