| Posted on Sun, Sep. 07, 2003 |  |
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Bush appeals to other nations for aid with Iraq security, development
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON - President Bush appealed to other countries Sunday for help in Iraq and told Americans that he intends to do and spend whatever it takes to transform the broken country into a democracy.
"This will take time, and require sacrifice," Bush said in an evening address to the nation from the White House, according to prepared remarks released in advance. "Yet we will do whatever is necessary, we will spend what is necessary."
Bush cast the war in Iraq as a pivotal contest between civilization and terrorism that will determine the future of the entire Middle East. He said the recent wave of terrorist bombings in Iraq underscored the stakes for both sides.
"The Middle East will either become a place of progress and peace, or it will be an exporter of violence and terror," he said. "Iraq is now the central front. Enemies of freedom are making a desperate stand there - and there they must be defeated."
He urged countries around the world to contribute troops, money and other aid. His appeal for international assistance was an acknowledgment that rebuilding Iraq has been far more difficult than administration officials had hoped.
In addition to seeking troops and financial support from the United Nations, Bush will ask Congress to commit another $60 billion to $80 billion for the effort.
"The terrorists have a strategic goal. They want us to leave Iraq before our work is done," Bush said. "They want to shake the will of the civilized world."
Top administration officials acknowledged earlier Sunday that the mission in Iraq is far from over, despite Bush's declaration four months ago that major combat had ended. And members of Congress from both parties warned that the situation could spin out of control unless Bush commits more troops and money.
"It's going to cost more and there will be continued sacrifice on the part of our young men and women," Secretary of State Colin Powell said on the Sunday talk-show circuit. "We have a long way to go."
Powell expressed hope that other countries would send as many as 15,000 troops to join 140,000 from the United States and about 22,000 from Britain and other allies.
Bush's speech was his first prime-time address on Iraq since his May 1 announcement that major combat was over. Polls indicate that public opinion about the war has deteriorated steadily since then, along with Bush's approval ratings.
Although most Americans continue to say that they approve of Bush's performance as president, the aura of invincibility that surrounded him in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has faded amid concerns about the economy and developments in Iraq. About half of Americans think the war is going badly.
Democrats have become increasingly vocal in criticizing Bush's handling of Iraq. Republicans are starting to join them.
"Every assumption the administration made about what would happen after the war was dead wrong," Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told CBS on Sunday. Biden, who recently visited Iraq, predicted that the price tag for U.S. operations there would swell to at least $100 billion next year.
The Pentagon estimates that the war is already costing U.S. taxpayers nearly $4 billion a month.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said on CNN that Bush and his advisers left the impression that Iraqi citizens would throw bouquets at U.S. troops, "but they've been throwing bombs instead."
Bush hopes to avoid deploying any more U.S. troops by convincing other countries to send forces to Iraq under U.N. auspices. The foreign troops would be under U.S. command, according to a draft resolution that U.S. diplomats hope to present to the United Nations this week.
But Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., disputed Bush's assertion that no additional U.S. troops are needed.
"If you need more foreign troops, you probably need more American troops," McCain told CBS. "We need to get them there, and we need to get them there quickly."
Although normally poles apart politically, McCain and Biden agreed that reinforcements are urgently needed to maintain control of Iraq. Both expressed fears that the fragile security situation could deteriorate into a drawn-out guerilla war.
"The window is closing," Biden said. "There's still time, but it's urgent."
Although Turkey, India and Pakistan have indicated willingness to send troops under U.N. auspices, France and Germany have insisted that the United States surrender some control over Iraq's reconstruction in return for international assistance. The Bush administration is split on the issue of U.N. involvement.
Powell has long advocated a bigger role for the United Nations, but Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld oppose any reduction in U.S. control. In an indication that the internal debate had not been resolved, Powell declined to detail the U.S. position on power sharing.
"I'm not sure what we're going to give, if anything, yet," he said.
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(c) 2003, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. |
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