Bush Touts New Iraq Currency as Sign of Progress

Yahoo!! ^ | 10-11-2003 | Caren Bohan

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Bush Touts New Iraq Currency as Sign of Progress Sat Oct 11,10:23 AM ET Add U.S. National

By Caren Bohan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites), seeking to bolster public support for his Iraq (news - web sites) policies, on Saturday hailed the launch of the country's new currency as a sign of economic promise.

Reuters Photo

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Facing doubts at home about its Iraq policies and the proposed $87 billion cost for the country's rebuilding, the Bush administration is waging a public relations campaign aimed at highlighting successes of the postwar effort.

Bush cited as a major milestone the plans to issue fresh Iraqi dinar notes that will no longer bear the image of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), whom the United States ousted from power in April.

"We're helping Iraqis to rebuild their economy after a long era of corruption and misrule," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "For three decades, Iraq's economy served the interest only of its dictator and his regime."

"The new currency symbolizes Iraq's reviving economy," he said.