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Pious Perverts See other Pious Perverts Articles Title: Bush Says Victory in Iraq is Achievable [Bush is Still an Idiot, Still GOP Supreme Leader and Spokesperson.] President Says 'Difficult Choices and Additional Sacrifices' Lie Ahead President Bush acknowledged today that 2006 has been a disappointing year for U.S. troops and the Iraqi people, as the optimism of a newly elected government in Baghdad gave way to a successful strategy by "the enemies of liberty" to foment sectarian violence. And he warned that "difficult choices and additional sacrifices" lie ahead in 2007. In a year-end news conference at the White House, Bush also said he is leaning toward increasing the "permanent size" of the Army and Marine Corps to meet the challenges of a long struggle against Islamic extremists. But he said he has not yet made up his mind whether to boost U.S. forces in Iraq in the short term. Despite his comment yesterday in an interview with The Washington Post that the United States is currently "not winning" in Iraq, he said today that he continues to believe that "victory in Iraq is achievable" and that U.S. forces will eventually prevail. Bush said it was important to analyze what has gone wrong in Iraq as he considers options for a new strategy there. He credited a foreign-led radical group affiliated with the al-Qaeda terrorist network with carrying out a "successful" strategy to ignite sectarian strife in Iraq between minority Sunni Muslim Arabs and the country's Shiite Muslim majority. As he approaches the last two years of his presidency, Bush vowed to "sprint to the finish" and try to make progress on such domestic priorities as overhauls of the Social Security system, Medicare and immigration law, as well as curtailing the pork-barrel practice of slipping "earmarks" into spending legislation to fund lawmakers' pet projects. As for his long-term legacy, he said, "Look, everybody's trying to write the history of this administration even before it's over. I'm reading about George Washington still. My attitude is if they're still analyzing number one, 43 ought not to worry about it, and just do what he think is right, and make the tough choices necessary." He referred to his ranking as the nation's 43rd president since Washington became the first in 1789. Reflecting on the increasingly precarious situation in Iraq, Bush said that "2006 was a difficult year for our troops and the Iraqi people." The year began "with optimism" after nearly 12 million Iraqis took part in elections that eventually led to formation of a "unity government," Bush said. However, he added, "The enemies of liberty responded fiercely to this advance of freedom. They carried out a deliberate strategy to foment sectarian violence between Sunnis and [Shiites]. And over the course of the year they had success. Their success hurt our efforts to help the Iraqis rebuild their country, it set back reconciliation, it kept Iraq's unity government and our coalition from establishing security and stability throughout the country." Bush said the United States enters the new year "clear-eyed about the challenges in Iraq and equally clear about our purpose," which he said remains "a free and democratic Iraq that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself, and is an ally in this war on terror." He said he would not make predictions about Iraq 2007, "except that it's going to require difficult choices and additional sacrifices because the enemy is merciless and violent." He pledged to work with both Democrats and Republicans "to fashion a new way forward that can succeed in Iraq." Emphasizing that success in the war on terrorism is essential to the security of generations of Americans, Bush said, "We have an obligation to ensure our military is capable of sustaining this war over the long haul and performing the many tasks that we ask of them. I'm inclined to believe that we need to increase . . . the permanent size of both the United States Army and the United States Marines." He said he has asked his new defense secretary, Robert M. Gates, to determine how such an increase could take place and report back to him as soon as possible, and he pledged to listen to the views of the new Democratic-controlled Congress that takes office in January. He did not offer any details or targets for the proposed expansion. Bush called the news conference a day after telling The Washington Post that the United States is neither winning nor losing the war in Iraq and that the size of the U.S. military needs to be increased. Bush's assessment yesterday that "we're not winning, we're not losing" in Iraq marked the first time that he has expressed any such equivocation about the U.S. war effort and stood in sharp contrast to his declaration in an Oct. 25 news conference that "absolutely, we're winning." His new formulation reflected the view of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, who told a foreign policy think tank on Dec. 4 that the United States is not winning in Iraq but is not losing either. In another reversal, Bush told The Post yesterday that he has ordered Gates to develop a plan to increase the troop strength of the Army and Marine Corps, which he agreed have been "stressed" by repeated deployments in Iraq since the March 2003 U.S. invasion. The shift reflects warnings from the Pentagon and Capitol Hill that the multiple deployments in Iraq, as well as in Afghanistan, are stretching the armed forces toward the breaking point. Asked today to explain why he had dropped his "confident assertion about winning" in Iraq, Bush said his October comment "was done in this spirit: I believe that we're going to win." If he did not believe that, "I wouldn't have our troops there," he said. "My comments yesterday reflected the fact that we're not succeeding nearly as fast as I wanted, when I said it at the time, and that the conditions are tough in Iraq, particularly in Baghdad," Bush added. "And so we're conducting a review to make sure that our strategy helps us achieve that which I'm pretty confident we can do. And that is have a country which can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself." Bush said he wants U.S. troops to understand "that we support them, that I believe that tough mission I've asked them to do is going to be accomplished, and that they're doing good work and necessary work." If Iraqi leaders "stand up, step up and lead," he said, "with our help we can accomplish the objective." He added, "And I want the enemy to understand that this is a tough task, but they can't run us out of the Middle East; that they can't intimidate America. They think they can. They think it's just a matter of time before America grows weary and leaves; abandons the people of Iraq, for example. And that's not going to happen." Asked why he continues to follow a path of maintaining U.S. forces in Iraq indefinitely against what polls show is the will of most Americans, Bush said, "I am willing to follow a path that leads to victory. . . . Victory in Iraq is achievable. It hadn't happened nearly as quickly as I hoped it would have." He said he does not believe that "most Americans want us just to get out now," and he warned that "retreat" from Iraq would embolden Islamic extremists, hurt U.S. credibility and "dash the hopes of millions who want to be free." Such a move would also enable radicals to have safe havens from which to plot further attacks on the United States, he said. Bush was also asked whether he would overrule his military commanders if he concluded that a surge in U.S. troop levels in Iraq were needed. Senior commanders have counseled against such an increase, warning that it would put heavy strain on the military. "That's a dangerous hypothetical question," Bush said. He said he still needs to gather recommendations from Gates, the military, U.S. diplomats in Iraq and Iraqi leaders before deciding. Asked for his view on whether increasing U.S. troop strength in Iraq would intensify the sectarian split there, Bush said, "Well, I haven't made up my mind yet about more troops. . . . I will tell you we're looking at all options. And one of those options, of course, is increasing more troops. But, in order to do so, there must be a specific mission that can be accomplished with more troops." In addition, whatever course is adopted must "help the Iraqis step up," he said. "It's their responsibility to govern their country. It's their responsibility to do the hard work necessary to secure Baghdad." Bush said his inclination to support calls for a bigger U.S. military does not represent a repudiation of the lighter, more agile force advocated by former defense secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who was replaced by Gates on Monday after nearly six years in office. "I strongly support a lighter, agile army that can move quickly to meet the threats of the 21st century," Bush said. "However, that doesn't necessarily preclude increasing end strength for the Army and the Marines. And the reason why I'm inclined to believe this is a good idea is because I understand that we're going to be in a long struggle against radicals and extremists. And we must make sure that our military has the capability to stay in the fight for a long period of time." He predicted that "that it's going to take a while for the ideology of liberty to finally triumph over the ideology of hate."
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 4.
#4. To: Morgana le Fay (#0)
"Foreign-led radical group affiliated with the al-Qaeda terrorist network" . . . who could that be? Think he is talking about the C. I. A.?
#8. To: Ada (#4)
i think so.
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