Bush vows to stand firm in Iraq

WASHINGTON – US President George W. Bush insisted on Tuesday that US-led forces were winning the war in Iraq and ruled out a hasty withdrawal that would “abandon our Iraqi allies to death and prison.”

In a State of the Union speech at the start of a crucial election year here, Bush did not mention a timetable for the pullout of US troops, saying only that victory “is the road that will take our troops home.” “We are in this fight to win, and we are winning,” the president said.But he warned against a precipitous pullout of the 160 000 US troops battling an insurgency raging nearly three years after the March 2003 invasion.”A sudden withdrawal of our forces from Iraq would abandon our Iraqi allies to death and prison, put men like (al Qaeda chief Osama) bin Laden and (Abu Musab) Zarqawi in charge of a strategic country, and show that a pledge from America means little.””However we feel about the decisions and debates of the past, our nation has only one option: We must keep our word, defeat our enemies, and stand behind the American military in its vital mission,” Bush said.Domestic US support for the war has plummeted as the American death toll in Iraq has risen to 2 245, and the conflict was likely to become a key issue in congressional elections this November.Bush used his nationally televised address to challenge Democrats and other critics who have accused him of misleading the public about ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s nuclear weapons capacity and mismanaging the conflict.”There is a difference between responsible criticism that aims for success, and defeatism that refuses to acknowledge anything but failure,” the president said.”Hindsight alone is not wisdom.And second-guessing is not a strategy.”The Texas Republican said the United States had a clear plan for victory in Iraq, matching efforts to help build Iraqi political institutions and security forces with an ambitious programme of economic reconstruction.Bush claimed progress in moving Iraq from dictatorship to a democracy in less than three years, capped by elections for Iraq’s first post-Saddam permanent parliament in December.”At the same time, our coalition has been relentless in shutting off terrorist infiltration, clearing out insurgent strongholds, and turning over territory to Iraqi security forces,” he said.- Nampa-AFP”We are in this fight to win, and we are winning,” the president said.But he warned against a precipitous pullout of the 160 000 US troops battling an insurgency raging nearly three years after the March 2003 invasion.”A sudden withdrawal of our forces from Iraq would abandon our Iraqi allies to death and prison, put men like (al Qaeda chief Osama) bin Laden and (Abu Musab) Zarqawi in charge of a strategic country, and show that a pledge from America means little.””However we feel about the decisions and debates of the past, our nation has only one option: We must keep our word, defeat our enemies, and stand behind the American military in its vital mission,” Bush said.Domestic US support for the war has plummeted as the American death toll in Iraq has risen to 2 245, and the conflict was likely to become a key issue in congressional elections this November.Bush used his nationally televised address to challenge Democrats and other critics who have accused him of misleading the public about ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s nuclear weapons capacity and mismanaging the conflict.”There is a difference between responsible criticism that aims for success, and defeatism that refuses to acknowledge anything but failure,” the president said.”Hindsight alone is not wisdom.And second-guessing is not a strategy.”The Texas Republican said the United States had a clear plan for victory in Iraq, matching efforts to help build Iraqi political institutions and security forces with an ambitious programme of economic reconstruction.Bush claimed progress in moving Iraq from dictatorship to a democracy in less than three years, capped by elections for Iraq’s first post-Saddam permanent parliament in December.”At the same time, our coalition has been relentless in shutting off terrorist infiltration, clearing out insurgent strongholds, and turning over territory to Iraqi security forces,” he said.- Nampa-AFP