Note: There is a maximum of 200 words per comment. If you wish to post more, please visit our forum.
Saddam verdict expected Nov. 5
By Nedra Pickler Associated Press Writer
Monday, October 16, 2006 | No comments posted.
WASHINGTON - President Bush personally assured Iraq's prime minister today that he has no plans to pull U.S. forces out and to ignore rumors that a deadline would be enforced against the fledgling Baghdad government.
The president's pledge came in a 15-minute morning phone call with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who told Bush he was concerned because he had been hearing that the United States was giving him a two-month timeline to operate on his own.
“He said that rumors sometimes can undercut confidence in the government and also its ability to work effectively in fighting terror,” said Bush spokesman Tony Snow. “And the president said, ‘Don't worry, you still have our full support.' “
Snow said he wasn't clear where the rumors were coming from. He said that in his talk with al-Maliki, Bush did not express any sense of urgency. Casualties have been increasing amid almost daily violence that has eroded support for the war in the United States.
A growing number of U.S. lawmakers are calling for a new strategy in Iraq, including two leading Republican senators who spoke out Sunday on television talk shows.
“The American people are not going to continue to support, sustain a policy that puts American troops in the middle of a civil war,” Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., said on CNN's “Late Edition.”
Hagel said he agreed with Virginia Republican Sen. John Warner, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who asserted after a recent visit to Iraq that the wartorn country was “drifting sideways.” Warner has urged consideration of a change of course if the Iraq government fails to restore order over the next two or three months.
Warner said Sunday he stands by that assessment, and even in the week since his trip to Iraq, there has been an “exponential increase in the killings and the savagery that's going on over there.”
“You can see some movement forward, but a lot of movement back,” Warner said on “Face the Nation” on CBS. “We have to rethink all the options, except any option which says we precipitously pull out, which would let that country fall into a certain civil war at that time, and all of the neighboring countries would be destabilized.”
Snow said Bush and al-Maliki agreed that Iraq needs firm leadership and close coordination between the Iraqi security forces and the coalition troops.
“The president didn't make any conditions, he said that we're going to support you and he said he knew that prime minister had to make tough decisions,” Snow said. “On a number of occasions he referred to the importance of going after terrorists and militias.”
Hagel said it is time to change course, but “our options are limited.”
“We need to find a new strategy, a way out of Iraq, because the entire Middle East is more combustible than it's been probably since 1948, and more dangerous,” Hagel said. “And we're in the middle of it.”
Democrats long have urged a change in Iraq policy. Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the leading Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said there is “no military solution to this conflict” and the United States must pressure Iraqis to take over their country.
“If they're going to have a civil war, they're going to have to do it without us,” Levin said on CNN. “This is long overdue. We've got to focus Iraqi leadership attention on this by telling them we need to begin a phased redeployment of American troops from Iraq within the next few months.”
---
On the Net:
http://www.whitehouse.gov
The president's pledge came in a 15-minute morning phone call with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who told Bush he was concerned because he had been hearing that the United States was giving him a two-month timeline to operate on his own.
“He said that rumors sometimes can undercut confidence in the government and also its ability to work effectively in fighting terror,” said Bush spokesman Tony Snow. “And the president said, ‘Don't worry, you still have our full support.' “
Snow said he wasn't clear where the rumors were coming from. He said that in his talk with al-Maliki, Bush did not express any sense of urgency. Casualties have been increasing amid almost daily violence that has eroded support for the war in the United States.
A growing number of U.S. lawmakers are calling for a new strategy in Iraq, including two leading Republican senators who spoke out Sunday on television talk shows.
“The American people are not going to continue to support, sustain a policy that puts American troops in the middle of a civil war,” Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., said on CNN's “Late Edition.”
Hagel said he agreed with Virginia Republican Sen. John Warner, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who asserted after a recent visit to Iraq that the wartorn country was “drifting sideways.” Warner has urged consideration of a change of course if the Iraq government fails to restore order over the next two or three months.
Warner said Sunday he stands by that assessment, and even in the week since his trip to Iraq, there has been an “exponential increase in the killings and the savagery that's going on over there.”
“You can see some movement forward, but a lot of movement back,” Warner said on “Face the Nation” on CBS. “We have to rethink all the options, except any option which says we precipitously pull out, which would let that country fall into a certain civil war at that time, and all of the neighboring countries would be destabilized.”
Snow said Bush and al-Maliki agreed that Iraq needs firm leadership and close coordination between the Iraqi security forces and the coalition troops.
“The president didn't make any conditions, he said that we're going to support you and he said he knew that prime minister had to make tough decisions,” Snow said. “On a number of occasions he referred to the importance of going after terrorists and militias.”
Hagel said it is time to change course, but “our options are limited.”
“We need to find a new strategy, a way out of Iraq, because the entire Middle East is more combustible than it's been probably since 1948, and more dangerous,” Hagel said. “And we're in the middle of it.”
Democrats long have urged a change in Iraq policy. Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the leading Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said there is “no military solution to this conflict” and the United States must pressure Iraqis to take over their country.
“If they're going to have a civil war, they're going to have to do it without us,” Levin said on CNN. “This is long overdue. We've got to focus Iraqi leadership attention on this by telling them we need to begin a phased redeployment of American troops from Iraq within the next few months.”
---
On the Net:
http://www.whitehouse.gov
The comments below are from users of theworldlink.com and do not necessarily represent the views of The World or Lee Enterprises. Participation Guidelines
Note: There is a maximum of 200 words per comment. If you wish to post more, please visit our forum.
Note: There is a maximum of 200 words per comment. If you wish to post more, please visit our forum.
Not already registered?
The World welcomes your comments about stories, and we encourage a robust dialogue on this site. All comments must meet reasonable standards of decency and civility.
Please follow these basic rules:
- No defamatory comments about individuals or businesses.
- No deliberately false information.
- No obscenity or racially offensive language.
- No harassment, verbal abuse, threats or personal attacks.
- No information that invades another person's privacy.
- No business solicitations or charitable solicitations.
Comments that violate these standards will not be posted. Users with repeated violations may be banned from future posting.Comments will be approved throughout the day during business hours. After hours and weekend comments may not appear until the following business day. It may take a couple of hours before comments are approved.
The World generally does not edit comments, but we reserve the right to edit any comment that does not meet our standards.
Close Guidelines