Posted on 09/28/2005 4:50:38 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
US President George W. Bush today went on the offensive over Iraq, insisting he had a clear strategy for victory, despite raging violence and slumping support for the war among Americans.
Mr Bush, whose personal-approval ratings have been dragged down by a combination of Iraq and the fallout from the Hurricane Katrina debacle, warned, however, that violence could surge before Iraqis vote on a new constitution next month.
He said US troops were ready and would not let "terrorists" obstruct the "march of freedom", apparently trying to convince Americans of progress in Iraq, despite the deaths of more than 1900 US troops since March 2003.
"Our strategy is clear in Iraq. We are hunting down high-value targets," Mr Bush said, highlighting the killing of Abu Azzam, who the US military and Iraqi government said was al-Qaeda's number two in the country.
"This guy is a brutal killer," Mr Bush said.
Al-Qaeda has denied that Abu Azzam, also known as Abdallah Nahim, but whose real name was Abdallah Mohammed al-Juhaari, was its second in command in Iraq.
Mr Bush warned more violence could flare before a referendum on a draft post-Saddam Hussein constitution next month and elections by mid-December.
"As these milestones approach, we can expect there to be increasing violence from the terrorists," Mr Bush said, after meeting US Central Command chief General John Abizaid, General George Casey, the commander of US forces in Iraq, and Richard Myers chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Despite outlining progress in halting terrorist incursions into Iraq and in the training of Iraqi troops, Mr Bush's statement did not contain much new to assuage Democrats who have complained of a lack of clear strategy for victory.
But in an apparent sign of concern about restiveness in Congress over the human, diplomatic and financial cost of the occupation, Mr Bush unusually called directly on MPs to listen up.
"I urge the members of Congress to attend the briefings with generals Abizaid and Casey," he said.
"I urge them to ask questions about our efforts in Iraq and to listen carefully about the type of war we fight.
"The support of Congress for our troops and our mission is important, and Americans need to know about the gains we've made in recent weeks and months."
Congressional opponents of the continuing US presence in Iraq are circulating a joint resolution, which would require Mr Bush to announce a timetable for withdrawal by the end of the year, and begin drawdowns in 2006.
The White House and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have argued a timetable would embolden terror groups and insurgents in Iraq.
It would also be wrong to abandon Iraqis on their painful path to democracy, they said.
Mr Bush also said that the US military was "constantly adapting" its tactics to deal with strategic changes by its enemies on the ground, but the White House denied this signalled that Washington's own strategy was not working.
The president spoke hours after a suicide bomber blew herself up at police recruitment centre in the former Iraqi rebel bastion of Tal Afar killing five people.
Another bomber killed a civilian in an attack on a police checkpoint north-east of Baghdad, a day after a similar attack killed 10 people.
Hours after Mr Bush's speech, the US military said two US soldiers were killed by a bomb close to the Kuwaiti border, bringing to at least 1919 the number of US military personnel killed in Iraq.
According to a CNN/USA Today Gallup poll released a week ago, support for Mr Bush's management of the war in Iraq had dropped to 32 per cent.
A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released on September 15, showed Mr Bush's overall ratings sank to 40 per cent, a record low.
Some 55 per cent of those polled supported bringing US troops home from Iraq, while just 36 per cent support Mr Bush's policy of keeping the troops in place until peace can be guaranteed.
Stay on course...but show you cant stay on multiple courses..
Saw that Sheehan called McCain a war monger today.
We need to get our story out. Point everyone you know to:
http://billroggio.com/
He is -
And these MSM silly polls aren't worth the paper they print them on - They are weighted at ridiculous levels -
We had one REAL poll on Iraq - It was last November - When over 120 Million Americans listened to the facts and listened to what each Party said about their vision of the GWOT -
GWB won with more votes then any President in history! - Case closed.
We had one REAL poll on Iraq - It was last November...
^^
Well put!
Most of the American people are behind you, Mr. President. It's the loud mouth leftists that control the MSM that are trying to make it seem otherwise.
still, the administration has failed to deliver a consistent message on iraq. "stay the course", to the sheeple, means "do the same thing we've been doing". that's not a good message.
the situation is evolving over there, you know that as well as anyone. long ago, we should have made the case to decouple american "victory" from daily bombings - those problems are going to be around in iraq for a long time - its going to be up to their forces to stop that, or contain it, the same way the LAPD contains violence in Los Angeles. we have won the war our forces were designed to win.
we have another corner to turn in 2006 - and the left is ready with their message. troop reductions will be met with the "cut and run", "declare victory and pull out" spin. are we ready for this? are we going to be out there in advance explaining that these troop reductions represent the beginning of a transfer of authority and responsibility to iraqi forces (assuming everything goes well)? because without a daily consistent message, the media will fill the vacuum with there version of the facts. and the polls are not good on iraq right now, there are alot of skeptical americans out there, we want to make sure the media doesn't leverage that to spin troop reductions into a vietnam style pullout. because that's the spin that's coming.
Actually its been the media that has been apparently trying to convince Americans that there hasn't been any progress in Iraq. Note the use of quotation marks in the above sentence...Asses.
Yawn - The American public doesn't trust Democrats when it comes to defense issues (and especially not with the GWOT).
I don't believe we will see major troop reductions in 2006 (there will still be 90,000 + U.S. troops in Iraq by Nov-06).
Of those troops that do come home (even if in larger numbers) the Dem's silly "cut and run" suggestion won't sit well at all back home - When are troops do start coming home a simple and clear message to the America public explaining the successful reasons for why they are coming home will completely cut the legs out of the Dem's "cut and run" attacks - If the Dem's stick with that slogan they will lose worse then they are already going to in 06 -
WTF???
"He said US troops were ready and would not let "terrorists" obstruct the "march of freedom", "
... 'scare quotes' around 'terrorists', like this is some kind of wierd appellation that is IN DOUBT?!?
I firmly agree! Stay the course Mr. President!!
J. Scott Davis
Veteran: U.S. Navy & Persian Gulf War
There is no "raging violence"....
There actually isn't as much violence than you'd find in California each day....a place of about the same size.
If the media focused only on the violence in Calif. each day, do you think you'd want to visit?
There is a difference, of course, it is an anti-American insurgency, so Americans are targeted. Calif. cannot be described in such a way.
I don't believe this; I think 55 - 60% do not want the troops home without finishing the job.
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