Bush: We can't jeopardize gains in Iraq
WASHINGTON (AP) - March 19, 2008 As anti-war activists demonstrated around downtown Washington,
the president spoke at the Pentagon to mark the anniversary of a
war that has cost nearly 4,000 U.S. lives and roughly $500 billion.
The president's address was part of a series of events the White
House planned around the anniversary and next month's report from
the top U.S. figures in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador
Ryan Crocker. That report will be the basis for Bush's first
troop-level decision in seven months.
"The battle in Iraq has been longer and harder and more costly
than we anticipated," Bush said.
But, he added, before an audience of Pentagon brass, soldiers
and diplomats: "The battle in Iraq is noble, it is necessary, and
it is just. And with your courage, the battle in Iraq will end in
victory."
Democrats took issue with Bush's stay-the-course suggestion.
"With the war in Iraq entering its sixth year, Americans are
rightly concerned about how much longer our nation must continue to
sacrifice our security for the sake of an Iraqi government that is
unwilling or unable to secure its own future," House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi, D-Calif. "Democrats will continue to push for an end to
the war in Iraq and increased oversight of that war."
Bush repeatedly and directly linked the fight there to the
global battle against the al Qaida terror network. And he made some
of his most expansive claims of success. He said the increase of
30,000 troops that he ordered to Iraq last year has turned "the
situation in Iraq around." He also said that "Iraq has become the
place where Arabs joined with Americans to drive al Qaida out."
"The surge ... has opened the door to a major strategic victory
in the broader war on terror," the president said. "We are
witnessing the first large-scale Arab uprising against Osama bin
Laden, his grim ideology, and his terror network. And the
significance of this development cannot be overstated."
Bush appeared to be referring to recent cooperation by local
Iraqis with the U.S. military against the group known as al-Qaida
in Iraq, a mostly homegrown, though foreign-led, Sunni-based
insurgency. Experts question how closely - or even whether - the
group is connected to the international al-Qaida network. As for
bin Laden, he is rarely heard from and is believed to be hiding in
Pakistan.
The U.S. has about 158,000 troops in Iraq. That number is
expected to drop to 140,000 by summer in drawdowns meant to erase
all but about 8,000 troops from last year's increase.
Faster and larger withdrawals could unravel recent progress,
said Bush. "Having come so far and achieved so much, we are not
going to let this happen," he said.
It is widely believed that he will endorse a recommendation from
Petraeus next month for no additional troop reductions, beyond
those already scheduled, until at least September. This pause in
drawdowns would be designed to assess the impact of this round
before allowing more.
The surge was meant to tamp down sectarian violence in Iraq so
that the country's leaders would have time to advance legislation
considered key to reconciliation between rival Shiite, Sunni and
Kurdish communities. But the gains on the battlefield have not been
matched by dramatic political progress, and violence again may be
increasing.
Bush, who has successfully defied efforts by the Democratic-led
Congress to force larger troop withdrawals, criticized those who
"still call for retreat" in the face of what he called undeniable
successes.
"The challenge in the period ahead is to consolidate the gains
we have made and seal the extremists' defeat," he said. "We have
learned through hard experience what happens when we pull our
forces back too fast - the terrorists and extremists step in, fill
the vacuum, establish safe havens and use them to spread chaos and
carnage."
With just 10 months before he hands off the war to a new
president, Bush is concerned about his legacy on Iraq.
Both Democratic candidates have said they would begin
withdrawing forces quickly if elected. Only expected GOP nominee
John McCain has indicated he planned to continue Bush's strategy of
bringing troops home only as conditions warrant.
Vice President Dick Cheney, who just completed a two-day visit
to Iraq, said the administration won't "be blown off course" by
continued strong opposition to the war in the United States.
Cheney compared the administration's task now to Abraham
Lincoln's during the Civil War. "He never would have succeeded if
he hadn't had a clear objective, a vision for where he wanted to
go, and he was willing to withstand the slings and arrows of the
political wars in order to get there," Cheney said of Lincoln in
an interview broadcast Wednesday on ABC's "Good Morning America."
As of Tuesday, at least 3,990 members of the U.S. military have
died in the war, which has cost the U.S. roughly $500 billion.
Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglizt and Harvard
University public finance expert Linda Bilmes have estimated the
eventual cost at $3 trillion when all the expenses, including
long-term care for veterans, are calculated.
Without specifics, Bush decried those who have "exaggerated
estimates of the costs of this war."
"War critics can no longer credibly argue that we are losing in
Iraq, so now they argue the war costs too much," he said.