Bush Tries To Calm Fears Over Future Of Free Iraq

By Alec Russell in Washington, Anton La Guardia and George Jones (Filed: 25/05/2004)

President George W Bush sought last night to reassure the world that he had a clear strategy for Iraq as the United States and Britain revealed plans to hand over power.

With his approval ratings at a new low and senior Republicans stepping up their criticism of his policy, Mr Bush launched his fightback with a prime-time television address.

Speaking at the Army War College in Pennsylvania, he vowed America "will persevere and defeat this enemy and hold this hard-won ground for the realm of liberty".

He also confirmed that Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison, scene of the worst of the abuses of Iraqi detainees, would be demolished.

"Under Saddam Hussein, prisons like Abu Ghraib were symbols of death and torture. That same prison became a symbol of disgraceful conduct by a few American troops who dishonoured our country and disregarded our values," he said.

"America will fund the construction of a modern, maximum security prison. With the approval of the Iraqi government, we will demolish the Abu Ghraib prison, as a fitting symbol of Iraq's new beginning."

He warned there was likely to be more violence before and after the transition. "There are difficult days ahead. And the way forward may sometimes appear chaotic. Yet our coalition is strong . . . and terrorists will not be allowed to dictate the future."

He did not give an exit date for the 135,000 US troops but said "the sooner this goal [of a free government] is achieved, the sooner our job will be done".

He added: "Our terrorist enemies have a vision that guides and explains all their varied acts of murder. Our actions, too, are guided by a vision. We believe that freedom can advance and change lives . . . These two visions have now met in Iraq, and are contending for the future of that country."

The first in a series of televised speeches, it came after Britain and the US circulated the draft of a new United Nations resolution. The text outlined plans for the handover of power on June 30 to an Iraqi transitional government and the UN's subsequent role as Iraq moved to democratic elections.

After weeks on the defensive, there was a more confident mood in Washington and Whitehall yesterday that progress was being made on diplomatic and security fronts. Although Mr Blair has refused to criticise Mr Bush in public, British officials believe the president's recent setbacks, in particular over the prisoner abuse scandal, have strengthened Britain's hand in negotiations over the resolution.

British officials believe they will reach agreement on setting up a national security council under Iraqi chairmanship but with senior officers from American, British and other forces on it.

The Iraqi government would set a "strategic framework" within which the multi-national force would operate. British and American troops would be led by their own commanders, but would operate "on the basis of consensus" in partnership with the new Iraqi forces and the government.

A senior British official suggested that the new government would control its own forces and would have a "veto" over major military operations by US-led coalition forces.

However, such a plan would be anathema to many in the Pentagon and the White House made it clear that there would be a "unified multi-national force".

The draft said only that there should be "close co-ordination" between US-led forces and the government. Officials said the details would be spelt out in an "exchange of letters", probably between the UN and the interim prime minister.

Such wrangling will have to wait until Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN special envoy, has drawn up a list of cabinet members, a process that has been delayed by disputes between Iraqi factions.

Senator Richard Lugar, the Republican chairman of the Senate's foreign relations committee, said his policies in the fight against terrorism had been inadequate. Calling for Mr Bush to repair diplomatic alliances, he also criticised the White House for failing to give clear plans for Iraq's future.

Gen Anthony Zinni, a former commander of US Central Command, said the course was "headed over the Niagara Falls". "Somebody has screwed up. It should be evident to everybody that they've screwed up. And whose heads are rolling on this? That's what bothers me most," he said.

The White House said Mr Bush was more interested in the advice of serving generals than former ones. But the latest CBS poll, showing his approval ratings down to 41 per cent, underlined the need for Mr Bush to give the nation a sense that he was in control.

The British public is strongly opposed to the Government sending up to 3,000 extra troops to Iraq, says an opinion poll published today.

The ICM poll for The Guardian shows that 66 per cent disapprove of sending more troops, while 35 per cent said all US and British troops should withdraw now

He never tried to calm fears. He just told the world what's what. The speech was basically: "Am I wavering? NO." "Do your negative comments matter? NO."

It was a fine speech...beautiful in that it shapes the future debate.

Now the talking heads have to debate handing over power, and the best ways to do that, rather than letting them digress into the nuances of rogues in charge of prisoners or whether insurgents had the backing of most Iraqis.

They have to debate what sort of government that they would prefer in Iraq, versus what the insurgents and terrorists would install there.

Shaping this debate in public is *precisely* what he needed to accomplish...and there is no doubt that he will succeed on this point, too.

3 posted on 05/24/2004 7:02:34 PM PDT by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)

When we went into Iraq, SOME people thought it would be done quickly. They were wrong. The President never said it would be quick nor did he say it would be without cost. He has now begun the process of outlining the steps that will lead to us leaving Iraq. The leftist press will attack this plan and do EVERYTHING in their power to make sure it doesn't work.

"Gen Anthony Zinni, a former commander of US Central Command, said the course was "headed over the Niagara Falls". "Somebody has screwed up. It should be evident to everybody that they've screwed up. And whose heads are rolling on this? That's what bothers me most," he said."

Yes general, someone did screw up and killed 17 sailors on the USS Cole. That would be you general.

What an arsewhipe.

No one I know is has any fears about the situation in Iraq. Yet the media seems to believe that Americans are all just a bunch of 'panicky' liberals.

Real news would be to print the entire speach and let the readers decide and not some shortened version of it with little tidbits and commentary on how he failed to address what or mispronounced Abu Ghraib

My wife has a higher IQ than Jennings,Brokae, or Rather, I would bet, and she cannot pronounce words phonetically.

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