Posted on 05/24/2004 11:31:40 AM PDT by dead
WASHINGTON - Facing political discord over the war in Iraq, President Bush tries to reassure voters Monday that hundreds of Americans have not died in vain, and to tell the world he has a blueprint to create a democratic nation.
Five months before the U.S. election and just five weeks before the June 30 hand-off of political power in Iraq, Bush travels late Monday to the Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., to give the first in a series of speeches about the future of Iraq. Bush will give a televised speech tonight.
Earlier in the day, the United States and Britain presented a new U.N. resolution that would transfer "governing authority" in Iraq to a sovereign interim government by June 30 and authorize a multinational force to maintain peace with Iraqi consent.
Meanwhile, a roadside bomb in Baghdad destroyed a civilian car with armor plating near an entrance to the headquarters of the U.S.-led coalition, killing two Britons and injuring two other people.
Worldwide attention is focused on the transfer of sovereignty next month, but the president is expected to lay out a timeline in Iraq that extends until elections are held early next year.
He was to offer a "clear strategy" for getting there, but was not expected to address the question of when American troops will return from Iraq, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Monday.
With an eye on the future, Bush's prime-time speech will address two issues dominating U.S. efforts in Iraq: The creation of a new Iraqi interim government, whose leaders are to be announced within days, and ways to improve security in areas of Iraq still rife with violence.
He will lay out "specific steps we are taking to move forward on the transition toward a free, democratic and and peaceful Iraq," McClellan said. They are:
Bush got a fresh reminder of the challenge of maintaining his coalition on Monday morning when he spoke to President-elect Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Republic. That country pulled its troops out of Iraq this month.
Bush reviewed drafts of his speech over the weekend while traveling in Texas and Connecticut to attend parties celebrating his daughters' college graduations. He rehearsed the approximately half-hour address Monday in the White House theater.
"He needs to demonstrate an appreciation for the hole we're in," said Ivo Daalder, a foreign policy analyst at the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution. "He shouldn't minimize the problems that we are confronting. He can't give the same speech that everything is going fine and `I'm committed to seeing it through.'"
In his speech, Bush will talk about the new unelected, interim Iraqi government that will guide the country until elections can be held by Jan. 31, 2005. He has lauded the work of U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who is hand-picking an Iraqi prime minister, president and two vice presidents who will work with a cabinet of ministers in running day-to-day operations until elections can be held.
It's a pivotal time in Iraq and the president's re-election campaign. Bush's approval ratings have sunk, according to some polls, to the lowest point of his presidency. Skepticism, mixed with fear of moving down an untraveled path in Iraq, is rising among Iraqis and Americans.
As in most cities Bush visits these days, he was welcomed in New Haven, Conn., on Sunday by flag-waving residents as well as anti-war protesters, including one who carried a sign that read "Iraq Vietnam."
Nothing will be clear to the Dems or the liberal media. Maybe Bush should use Hooked on Phonics for them.
I bet it took a weeks-long brainstorming session to come up with that one.
I'm a Bush supporter, but I don't think a boilerplate speech about reconstruction and working through the UN is gonna cut it. I'd prefer to hear plain talk about how Iraq is integral to the broader war on Islamist terrorism, that the only alternative to victory there is surrender and more mayhem in this country, and that our intention is to win whatever it takes.
Lots of people have lost interest in spending tons of $$$ to rebuild Iraqi(especially with gas prices so high and inflation rearing its ugly head)
Americans need to hear how America benefits from a free Iraqi
Its human nature, most people want a payoff for the lives lost and money spend.
anybody know what time the speech will be given? thanks
Only the ignorant or the morally bankrupt think US soldiers have died in vane.
8:00 p.m. EST, the speech will be.
"He shouldn't minimize the problems that we are confronting."
Blah. Bush isn't explaining the "why" the problems exist - Iran and others fomenting Iraqi destabilization. It's in their economic interest - a small investment with big returns in higher prices for their own oil. Nothing new, the sanctions regime served the same purpose. If Bush said the word "Iran" the Iraqis would understand. All they get is vagueness and "it'll be better later."
"Working with the United Nations in naming interim government leaders."
Losing argument. The natural dem response will be, why didn't you do that before? Bush, as usual, will not explain why seeking UN control failed before - the monetary interests of certain security council nations. Bush will not re-explain the "why" of our history in Iraq, and necessity of military final action. In this vacuum the anti-semitic explanations and other mistaken conspiracy theories are gaining traction (though interestingly, not with Arabs so much). Kerry needs to define "Iraq" as something that came out of the blue with the Bush admin.
I don't see Bush doing the necessary things at all...though it's better than the "It's the War on Terrorism" selling point.
"Facing political discord over the war in Iraq, President Bush tries to reassure voters Monday that hundreds of Americans have not died in vain,"...
Stopped reading. I bashed my head on the desk trying to read this far left-leaning opening paragraph. Screw AP!
I agree.....and we have even more reason now (Oil for Food corruption)to NOT want the UN in charge of anything.
Nice, short and sweet. I say you deliver the speech.
Place you bets folks...............
How long will it take Kerry to come out and belittle, criticize, discredit, minimize, and write off what Pres. Bush says tonight?
How about the first news segment on each one of the networks that won't be carrying the President's address?
For those of us who do not have cable, we won't be watching the President.
NBC, CBS, ABC & FOX will not air the President's speech live. But, the "alphabet" networks will instead air their regular sitcom and 'reality TV' lineup.
Only those with cable and sattelite dishes that can receive cable news will be able to watch the President tonight.
You mean he actually has a plan? But John Kerry, Nancy Pelosi and Fat Teddy Kennedy said there was no plan...
What time does Niteline come on??
If Bush still believes that Islam and the axis of evil are WW III threats like WW II, he needs to propose more than his present methods. After Iraq, he still has Iran, Syria and North Korea to defeat. He has to mobilize the nation for a multi-front effort, recruit millions of military, send Rosie the Riveter back to war production with in-sourced factories, ration oil and start War Bond drives. If Bush wants to win the war completely with least casualties in the shortest time, he has to commit the nation like Roosevelt did. That's how you win wars. Anything less is just slouching toward defeat.
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