WASHINGTON, March 21: President George W. Bush hinted on Tuesday that US troops may stay in Iraq at least through 2008 and the decision to withdraw troops from that country will fall to future US presidents and Iraqi leaders. This is the first time since the invasion of Iraq three years ago that President Bush has publicly acknowledged it may not be possible to withdraw troops from the Arab country during his tenure.
Acknowledging the public’s growing unease with the war — and election-year skittishness among fellow Republicans — the president nonetheless vowed to keep US soldiers in the fight.
“If I didn’t believe we could succeed, I wouldn’t be there. I wouldn’t put those kids there,” Mr Bush declared at a news conference here.
He warned Americans that there would be “more tough fighting ahead” in Iraq, but denied claims that the nation was in the grips of a civil war.
“The Iraqis had a chance to fall apart and they didn’t.”
The second-full blown news conference of the year marked a new push by President Bush to confront doubts about his strategy in Iraq. A day earlier, he acknowledged to a sometimes sceptical audience that there was dwindling support for his Iraq policy and that he understood why people were disheartened.
Mr Bush’s decision to alert his nation for tougher fighting ahead coincides with the construction of permanent US bases in Iraq. The US media reported on Tuesday that in 2005-06, the Bush administration had authorised or proposed almost $1 billion for US military construction in Iraq.
US troops have already pulled out of 34 of the 110 bases they were holding last March and are now moving at more permanent bases outside the cities.
President Bush appealed directly to the American people to support his strategy on the war in Iraq.
“The terrorists haven’t given up,” he said. “They’re tough-minded. They like to kill. There’s going to be more tough fighting ahead. Yet we’re making progress, and that’s important for the American people to understand.”
He also praised Iraq’s leaders for working towards creating a government of competing factions. “It’s an indicator that Iraq’s leaders appreciate the import of Iraq’s national unity,” Mr Bush said.
Mr Bush defended his decision to go to war and supported Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who has been criticised for the war. “I don’t believe he should resign,” he said. “He’s done a fine job. Every war plan looks good on paper until you meet the enemy.”
But he stressed that the war was necessary. “My attitude about the defence of this country changed on September 11th when we got attacked,” he said. “I vowed then and there to use every asset at my disposal to protect the American people.”
Mr Bush said Al Qaeda had made it clear that Iraq would be the central front in its plots against America and to overthrow modern governments.
