No timetable for Iraq withdrawal: Bush
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush assured Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari on Friday âthereâs not going to be any timetableâ for withdrawal of American forces and vowed victory over insurgents attempting to prevent establishment of a democratic government. âThis is not the time to fall back,â al-Jaafari concurred at a joint news conference at the White House.
Too bad the Democrats can't figure that out. | Fielding questions hours after the latest attack on a US military convoy left an unknown number of American troops dead, Bush conceded it bothers Americans to see scenes of carnage on television. Speaking of the insurgents, he said, âThereâs no question thereâs an enemy that still wants to shake our will and get us to leave. ...They try to kill and they do kill innocent Iraqi people, women and children cause they know that the carnage that they reap will be on TV and they know that it bothers people to see death.
âIt does it bothers me. It bothers American citizens. It bothers Iraqis.â
Bush said he would stay the course in Iraq despite public opinion polls showing dwindling support for his policy. He indicated his awareness of his domestic critics when a reporter began asking a question about whether he was concerned about a âslumpâin his support.
âQuagmire?â the president suggested instead, employing a word that some Democrats in Congress have begun to use to describe the military presence in Iraq one year after the transfer of sovereignty.
Al-Jaafari, seemed to recognize the domestic pressure on the president. âYou have given us more than money, you have given us your sons...this is more precious than any other support we have received,â he said.
An Iraqi reporter asked the two men when reconstruction would begin in the war-torn country. Bush said he wasnât trying to âpass the buck,â but looked at al-Jaafari and said âtheyâre in charge,â meaning the Iraqis.
Posted by: Steve White 2005-06-25 |