President Bush urges patience with Iraq as war enters 6th year
Photo 
President Bush delivers remarks on the "Global War on Terror" Wednesday, March 19, 2008, at the Pentagon.
WASHINGTON — Five years after launching the invasion of Iraq, President Bush strongly signaled Wednesday that he won’t order troop withdrawals beyond those already planned because he refuses to “jeopardize the hard-fought gains” of the past year.
As anti-war activists demonstrated around downtown Washington, the president spoke at the Pentagon to mark the war anniversary. He gave a strong defense of his decision to go to war and continue it and linked the fighting there to the global battle against al-Qaida.
“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,” he told an audience of Pentagon brass, soldiers and diplomats.
Bush made some of his most expansive claims of success in the fighting there. 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, Bush said.
“Having come so far and achieved so much, we are not going to let this happen,” he said.
Mar 19, 2008 at 9:01 p.m.
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Because it only matters when a Republican does it. DUH!
Mar 19, 2008 at 8:47 p.m.
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Seems no wanted to send troops to stop a religous was but we did. It appears we meant to keep them there only a few short years but they are still there today. And I don't mean Iraq - Bill Clinton authorized sending troops in Bosnia and they are still there-why does no one care about getting those troops home?
Mar 19, 2008 at 7:32 p.m.
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Yes, it's all going so swimmingly, why quit now when we still have more to lose? Sounds like a gambler who knows he can win if he can just play long enough.
Mar 19, 2008 at 6:30 p.m.
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Bush had no idea of the resolve of the religous fanatics we are facing. Other leaders, including his own father, did. They also knew this is what would happen, no way out. Since his questionable victory in 2000, this country has spiraled into depths we never thought possible. Recession? More like depression-esque. Gas climbing to $4 a gallon, housing market has failed, average houshold income is down, government is bailing out the banks, it goes on and on.
Mar 19, 2008 at 4:01 p.m.
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Bush is again placing the "Iraq freedom" invasion on Al-qaida. Al-Qaida was not in Iraq until Bush got us involved. Stop your confusion tactics on the American people and bring home our troops!
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