WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush on Thursday ordered an indefinite halt to US troop withdrawals from Iraq come July, warning that the strife-torn country remains too fragile five years after Baghdad fell.
"Serious and complex challenges remain in Iraq, from the presence of Al-Qaeda to the destructive influence of Iran to hard compromises needed for further political progress," Bush said in a speech defending his strategy.
With his fellow Republicans worried about the vastly unpopular conflict's cost in November elections, Bush said he was also shortening troop deployments, and promised that "while this war is difficult, it is not endless."
Still, the president's remarks underlined that his successor in January 2009 will decide whether and how to end the war, which is now in its sixth year, after claiming the lives of more than 4,000 US troops and countless Iraqis.
Dog and pony show.
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