Bush, Maliki agree on more US troops for Baghdad

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President George W. Bush and Iraq’s
prime minister said on Tuesday more U.S. and Iraqi troops will
go to Baghdad to try to slow sectarian violence in talks that
exposed gaps between them on the Middle East.

“God willing, there will be no civil war in Iraq,” Iraqi
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said.

Bush, at a joint news conference with Maliki that lacked a
great deal of warmth, said those going to Baghdad would be
pulled from areas in Iraq that are deemed relatively free of
violence.

The new security plan was an acknowledgment that a
strengthening of Baghdad imposed by Maliki five weeks ago has
been a failure, with hundreds of people killed in sectarian
violence.

It was unclear how the new plan would affect Pentagon hopes
of reducing the U.S. troop deployment in Iraq by year’s end, a
move with an important political consideration given Republican
efforts to maintain control of the U.S. Congress in November
elections and the unpopularity of the war among many Americans.

There are now 127,000 American troops in Iraq.

A U.S. defense official said 400 soldiers, from an Army
brigade held in reserve in Kuwait, will be sent into Iraq in
the coming days to help free up other troops to go to Baghdad.

Bush said troop decisions will be made by U.S. commanders
on the ground and he assured Maliki that, “America will not
abandon the Iraqi people.”

“No question it’s tough in Baghdad. And no question it’s
tough in other parts of Iraq. But there are also places where
progress is being made,” Bush said.

Bush and Pentagon officials gave no indication how many
U.S. troops might be involved in the Baghdad reinforcement. A
senior administration official said this was intentional and
the numbers would be decided by the generals.

FRANK EXCHANGE

The two leaders had what Bush called a “frank exchange” —
diplomatic parlance for a sharp disagreement — over the
conflict between Israel and Hizbollah in southern Lebanon.

Maliki told the news conference he emphasized the
importance of an immediate ceasefire, a position Bush refused
to embrace.

“We want to address the root causes of the violence in the
area. And, therefore, our mission and our goal is to have a
lasting peace, not a temporary peace, but something that
lasts,” Bush said.

Bush has resisted multiple calls from Arab leaders for him
to urge an immediate ceasefire, saying Hizbollah attacks on
Israelis must be addressed.

That position has basically bought time for Israel to carry
out its campaign against Hizbollah.

Maliki came to Washington having denounced Israel for the
attacks while refusing to condemn Hizbollah, points that drew
the ire of Democrats on Capitol Hill.

A group of House of Representatives Democrats circulated a
letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert urging the Illinois
Republican to get an apology from Maliki for denouncing Israel
or cancel his address on Wednesday to a joint meeting of
Congress.

Ron Bonjean, Hastert’s spokesman, said there was no
intention to cancel Maliki’s speech, and accused Democrats of
“political gamesmanship during an election year.”

Asked at the White House his position in Hizbollah, Maliki
demurred.

“Here, actually, we’re talking about the suffering of a
people in a country. And we are not in the process of reviewing
one issue or another, or any government position,” he said.

Senate Democrats also criticized Maliki’s position on
Hizbollah and Israel in a letter to him.

Maliki’s emergence to power prompted Bush to make a
surprise visit to Baghdad June 13 and, along with the killing
of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al Qaeda leader in Iraq, spawned
hopes among Americans that Iraq was changing for the better.

(Additional reporting by Patricia Wilson and Caren Bohan)