Bush warns against pullout on Iraq war anniversary
By Anwar Iqbal
WASHINGTON, March 19: US President George W. Bush marked the fifth anniversary of the American invasion of Iraq on Wednesday with a speech defending the war and warning that a withdrawal would hand victory to terrorists.
Speaking at the Pentagon, Mr Bush said: “Removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision.” And the recent ‘surge’ of US troops to Iraq has brought about “a major strategic victory in the broader war on terror.”
His critics disagree.
“The human cost of the war has been enormous, with nearly 4,000 (American) lives lost and tens of thousands injured, many of them permanently,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“The cost to our national security has been immense – our military is stretched thin and our reputation in the world is damaged. And now, the war in Iraq has become a threat to our economy, with its colossal cost to taxpayers taking us more deeply into debt.”
Mr Bush, however, dismissed these as ‘exaggerated estimates’ and insisted that “the costs are necessary when we consider the cost of a strategic victory for our enemies in Iraq.”
The war on Iraq was “worth it,” in spite of the “loss of life and treasure,” said Mr Bush.
Disputing the president’s claim, America’s main anti-war coalition, ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), referred to a recent survey by the Oxford Research Bureau which concluded that so far 1.3 million Iraqis have died, five million wounded and millions more have been forced to leave their homes as a result of the war.
“Iraq posed no threat to the people of the United States when it was brutally invaded,” said ANSWER. “This was a war to dominate not only Iraq, but a strategic and oil-rich region.”
In his speech on the fifth anniversary, Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama vowed to end the war and said his early opposition to the war showed he was best placed to make a ‘clean break’ from the Republican approach on Iraq.
Another Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton plans to begin withdrawing troops within 60 days after taking office.
She said the Iraqi government had failed to create a stable political system despite the US effort.
“Does that mean we stay for 10 years, 30 years, 50 years? And if at the end of it the Iraqis still haven’t gotten their act together, we’re going to be facing the same tough questions.”
Mrs Clinton said that one lesson of the Iraq war is not to commit troops “unless you are prepared to go all the way and are prepared to be successful.”
But such criticism had little impact on President Bush who said the world was better and the United States safer because US forces acted to topple the Saddam regime.
The president said the fight against ‘terrorists’ in Iraq was one the United States can and must win. He said defeating the ‘enemy’ there would make it less likely that Americans would face the enemy at home.
Mr Bush declared that the United States was on the cusp of victory in the five-year-old war. “The challenge in the period ahead is to consolidate the gains we have made and seal the extremists’ defeat,” he said.
Mr Bush was backed by Republican presidential nominee John McCain who said that a prompt withdrawal could result in worse violence in Iraq.
“Today in Iraq, America and our allies stand on the precipice of winning a major victory against radical Islamic extremism,” said Mr McCain while backing Mr Bush’s appeal to stay the course in Iraq.
The United States currently has about 160,000 troops in Iraq but is scheduled to reduce the number to 140,000 by summer.
