US President George Bush discusses 'war on terror'

Thursday, March 27, 2008

The President of the United States, George W. Bush, today discussed the "global war on terror," at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. In the speech Mr. Bush discussed the surge in Iraq. He said, "Over the past year, we [the US government] have seen significant security gains result from the surge."

Bush also claimed that the United States had achieved many things in Iraq. He stated that "the military achievements in Iraq have been accompanied by a political transformation. It can feel like distant history, but it was only five years ago that Iraq was one of the most brutal dictatorships on Earth - a totalitarian nightmare where any election was a sham, and dissenters often found themselves buried in mass graves. In a matter of 15 months, the Iraqi people reclaimed their sovereignty. They went on to choose an interim government, and to ratify the most democratic constitution in the Arab world. And in December 2005, 12 million Iraqis elected a government under that constitution - a display of courage that defied the terrorists, disproved the critics, and should always inspire the world."

He continued, saying that, "Tragically, the [democratic] progress [in Iraq] threatened to unravel in 2006. The new government Iraqis elected took months to form. In the meantime, a terrorist attack on a Shia shrine in Samarra drove sectarian tensions past the breaking point. Sunni extremists, including al Qaeda terrorists, and Shia extremists, some backed by Iran, slaughtered innocent Iraqis in brutal attacks and reprisal killings. And across the country, political and economic activity was set back."

President Bush did, however, say that the US coped well with the situation in Iraq. "We took a hard look at the situation, and responded with the surge. This dramatic shift in policy had two primary goals. The first was to improve security conditions. So I ordered 30,000 additional soldiers and Marines into Iraq, and gave them a new mission, to focus on protecting the Iraqi people, and to hold the gains that had been made," he said.

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Sources

Press Release: "President Bush Visits Dayton, Ohio, Discusses Global War on Terror" — White House, March 27, 2008
Ewen MacAskill. "Bush signals summer withdrawal of Iraq troops unlikely" — Guardian Unlimited, March 27, 2008

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