Bush: Terrorists converging on Iraq, US must stay
Reuters
Date: 08-25-05
NAMPA, Idaho (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Wednesday terrorists had converged on Iraq and that pulling U.S. troops out would only embolden them.
Bush's speech, coinciding with news that 1,500 more troops were headed to Iraq in coming weeks, was part of an effort to counter increased anti-war sentiment which has contributed to a sharp decline in the president's approval ratings.
Bush pointedly played up the case of a military mother who supported the Iraq war, in contrast to Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a fallen soldier who began a protest outside Bush's Texas ranch and has become a symbol for the anti-war movement.
"One of the most important battle fronts in this war on terror is Iraq," Bush told an audience of about 9,500, including members of the Idaho National Guard and other military branches.
"The stakes in Iraq could not be higher. The brutal violence in Iraq today is a clear sign of the terrorists' determination to stop democracy from taking root in the Middle East," he added.
Bush's comments came on a day when dozens of insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles attacked police checkpoints in Baghdad.
More than 1,800 American troops have been killed in Iraq. The Bush administration's initial justification for the war was that Iraq posed a threat because it had stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. None were found.
'WE NEED MORE THAN PHOTO-OPS'
"We need more than photo-ops and spin control to win this war. We need an effective plan to achieve our goals in Iraq and protect our troops. The president once again offered neither," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat. "He needs to realise what most Americans now understand -- that staying the course is not an option."
Bush has increasingly tied staying in Iraq to the need to fight terrorism following the September 11, 2001, attacks. Critics say the administration is trying to shift justification for the war despite lack of evidence linking prewar Iraq and September 11.
A Harris poll released on Wednesday showed Bush's approval rating dropping to 40 percent, while 58 percent had a negative opinion. The previous Harris poll in June had Bush's approval rating at 45 percent, versus 55 percent disapproval.
Forty-one percent of respondents considered Iraq the most important issue facing the country, up from 24 percent in June, according to the telephone poll of 1,217 Americans between August 9 and 16. Other recent polls have shown growing unease among Americans with the Iraq war.
Bush said foreign fighters from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, and Libya were targeting Iraqi civilians with car bombs and suicide attacks.
"We will stay on the offence. We'll complete our work in Afghanistan and Iraq," Bush said. "An immediate withdrawal of our troops in Iraq or the broader Middle East, as some have called for, would only embolden the terrorists and create a staging ground to launch more attacks against America and free nations," he said.
"So long as I'm the president, we will stay, we will fight, and we will win the war on terror," Bush said.
The Pentagon announced that it would send 1,500 airborne troops from North Carolina to Iraq as part of a plan to bolster security for votes there in October and December.
There are now 138,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. That total could temporarily rise to 160,000 ahead of the votes as thousands of soldiers scheduled for rotation home are kept in place after the arrival of their replacements, defence officials said.
MEETING WITH MILITARY FAMILIES
Bush's comments came a day before the Iraqi parliament was due to vote on a new constitution backed by the Shi'ite-led government but opposed by minority Sunnis.
Seeking to defuse arguments by military families protesting the war, Bush quoted Tammy Pruett, whose husband and five sons have served or are deployed in Iraq, as saying if something happened to one of them, they had fought for what they believed.
"America lives in freedom because of families like the Pruett's," said Bush, who kissed Tammy Pruett on the cheek after his speech and met with 19 other military families.
Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq, has sought a second meeting with Bush and wants U.S. troops pulled out of Iraq. Bush has no plans to meet Sheehan after meeting her last year after her 24-year-old son died.
Sheehan returned to her vigil outside Bush's ranch later on Wednesday after going to California to care for her ailing mother.
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