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Bush urges Americans be patient with Iraq

Posted on: Wednesday, 14 December 2005, 12:27 CST

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush urged Americans on Wednesday to be patient as Iraq prepares for its election and vowed he will not be swayed by critics demanding a quick U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq.

In the last in a series of four speeches in two weeks laying out his Iraq strategy, Bush again accepted responsibility for faulty intelligence pointing to weapons of mass destruction in Iraq that he used as the foundation for his decision to go to war in 2003.

Bush dismissed Democratic calls for a phased U.S. pullout as a "recipe for disaster" because it would send the wrong message to U.S. troops, Iraqis and al Qaeda.

It would tell the troops, he said, that the United States was "abandoning the mission they are risking their lives to achieve, and that the sacrifice of their comrades killed in this struggle has been in vain."

Bush has used the series of speeches to try to explain his administration's strategy amid a drumbeat of criticism from Democrats who say he does not have a plan and wide public disapproval of his handling of the war.

The White House hopes a successful election on Thursday will be a symbolic blow to the insurgency and boost the confidence of Americans, giving Bush more time to pursue his goal of training Iraqi security forces before reducing U.S. troop levels.

Bush asked for patience from Americans to give Iraqis time to form their new government after the election. After the vote, he said, there will be "days of uncertainty" and the winners may not be clear until the early part of January.

"It's going to take a while. It's also going to take a while for them to form a government. The work ahead will require patience of the Iraqi people and require our patience as well," he said.

Bush wants a smooth election to counter daily news of suicide bombings and the deaths of U.S. troops -- more than 2,100 U.S. troops have died since the start of the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003 -- that have soured the American public on the war.

BUSH DEFENDS WAR DECISION

He said the war was Saddam Hussein's fault because he ignored the demands of the international community.

"It is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong. As president I am responsible for the decision to go into Iraq, and I am also responsible for fixing what went wrong by reforming our intelligence capabilities and we're doing just that," he said.

But he called the decision to topple Saddam the right one.

"Saddam was a threat," said Bush, adding that Americans and the world are better off because he is no longer in power.

Before he spoke, 40 Senate Democrats and independent Vermont Sen. James Jeffords urged Bush to offer a plan that "identifies the remaining political, economic, and military benchmarks that must be met and a reasonable schedule to achieve them" to get Iraq on its feet and allow for a phased redeployment of U.S. troops.

"He hasn't leveled with the American people or laid out a strategy for success. He continues to say, 'stay the course,"' said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat.

Bush and other top administration officials met on Tuesday with a group of House of Representative Democrats to talk about the Iraq strategy.

The president is facing both low popularity ratings and waning American public support for the war -- with critics questioning the reasons for the war and asking when Bush will start bringing home the nearly 160,000 U.S. troops there.

Top members of the House of Representatives subcommittee that oversees the defense budget said they heard the Pentagon would seek another $80 billion to $100 billion for the Iraq war next year, although they said the figure could change.

That would come on top of the $50 billion for the war Congress was expected to approve in the next few days.

(Additional reporting by Tabassum Zakaria, Adam Entous and Vicki Allen)

Source: REUTERS

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