Bush: Iraq Violence A Necessary Part Of Development

WASHINGTON — President Bush declared on Friday that Iraq stands at a defining moment as it struggles to put down heavily armed Shiite militias in new flare-ups of violence that threaten to undercut security gains and sway his decision about U.S. troop drawdowns.

In Baghdad, Shiite extremists lobbed rockets and mortars against the U.S.-protected Green Zone, which has come under steady barrages this week. The U.S. sent a Hellfire missile into a Shiite stronghold in the city. And in the south, fighting escalated in Basra where the mettle of Iraqi security forces is being sorely tested.

"Any government that presumes to represent the majority of people must confront criminal elements or people who think they can live outside the law," Bush said at the White House. "And that's what's taking place in Basra and in other parts of Iraq. I would say this is a defining moment in the history of a free Iraq."

It's also a key juncture for Bush in the five-year-old war that has claimed 4,000 American lives, worn U.S. forces thin and dominated his presidency.

Bush said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's crackdown in Basra against Shiite militias vying for control of the oil-rich region is a positive milestone in the birth of a democratic nation. The Iraqi prime minister's decision to move against enemy elements in Basra shows "evenhanded justice" and the Iraqi government's willingness to go after both Sunni and Shiite insurgents and outlaws, he said.

Just as important is how the violence plays out. The ability of Iraqi security forces to control places like Basra will color the president's decision on whether to order more U.S. troop withdrawals beyond the five U.S. brigades already returning home by July _ something that's already looking unlikely.

The renewed violence, which has followed months of relative calm, threatened to unravel a fragile cease-fire with followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. How much U.S. troops are drawn into the fight will be a telling sign of the Iraqi forces' ability to protect the nation.

Bush stressed that those Iraqi forces remained in the lead, yet U.S. forces stepped deeper into the fight.

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U.S. pilots assisting Iraqi forces conducted airstrikes on Basra on Friday. American jets dropped bombs in the city, marking a sharp escalation in the fight against insurgents the Pentagon accuses of having links to Iran.

Bush said he did not know what triggered al-Maliki to act.

"This was his decision," Bush said during a news conference with visiting Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who is pulling 550 Australian troops out of Iraq.

Bush said of al-Maliki: "It was his military planning. It was his causing the troops to go from point A to point B. And it's exactly what a lot of folks here in America were wondering whether or not Iraq would even be able to do in the first place."

While he praised the Iraqi government's actions, he cautioned that the situation in Iraq remains "dangerous and fragile." He urged patience.

"They're fighting some pretty tough characters, people who kill innocent people to achieve objectives," he said. "And, yes, there's going to be violence, and that's sad. But this situation needed to be dealt with, and it's now being dealt with."

The Iraqi military campaign has triggered Shiite uprisings in other parts of the country, and, if the violence is not contained it could force U.S. officials to rethink further cutbacks in troop levels.

Early next month, Bush is expected to endorse a temporary halt in the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, has warned against shrinking the American force so rapidly that the gains in security will be compromised.

The latest tally of casualties over the past several weeks shows more high spikes than in previous months _ including several days with 100 or more U.S. military, Iraqi military and Iraqi civilian deaths.

Officials say they are not yet certain whether the upturn in casualties represents a trend of increased violence. And it is not clear that Petraeus will be able to make such a conclusion before he goes before Congress April 8.

___

Associated Press Writer Lolita Baldor contributed to this report.

Comments

[JerryTheAngel]

Bush's plan all along has been to hand this off to the next President. He knows that we can't keep this many troops in Iraq and continue to spend 12 Billion dollars a month for years to come.

He's hoping that this out of sight, out of mind strategy will take the heat off of him while he's guzzling beer down in Crawford Texas.

We have to get out of Iraq and when we do, of course there will be chaos. As there was chaos when we fought our civil war. Bush will sit back and say: "See I told you so" and this is his out, in his own delusional mind. It won't work. This will always be Bush's war no matter what happens in the future.

That's why Richard Nixon was given a second term because the Vietnam war was not his war. It was Johnson's war.

[gappytoofcondi]

Wonder if he makes a stain in his pants every time he lies. The killings will continue as long as there is big Oil to reap record profits and Bush's friends to loot our treasury.
To Bush death = progress How romantic!

[thrutheseasons]

It really was a disservice for America not to prosecute Nixon. If we had, I don't think these guys would have had the balls to do what they did. They are having a grand old time. If Pelosi and the others are not going to impeach him, try him for treason, and have him hanged, do you think we could just at least take his powers of pardoning away so we can try him and his cabal of fear and war mongers and thieves after he is out of office? How in the h did we allow Cheney to keep over a hundred thousand shares of Haliburton as he feeds their business? Who has been profiting? Only the oil people and the war people. Invading Iraq was on their agenda from day one. 911 just made it convenient.

[lincat]

Is criminality a word? Bush is a poor excuse for a human being. He doesn't care about the children and men and women who are being killed or maimed. So those of us who are thinking about voting for McCain or staying home because our democratic candidate isn't the nominee better think about what life is going to be like if we do . It's scary.

[hydenorhare]

When you have a group of people who justify killing you over a cartoon then, yeah, there's going to be violence.

[Clarabell]

Isn't it amazing how "they" can come up with a talking point about every situation? But what is really more amazing is how many idiots buy into it.

[colibri1]

If the 17 years of US-instigated violence forced on Iraq isn't enough to disgust every person in the world, then I don't know what is. As Bush and his henchmen and predecessors know, the goal is not the development of Iraq, but its destruction, which the US is achieving. Actually, that's a good thought tip: Whenever you hear the word "development" used, substitute it with the word, destruction, and you'll get a truer picture of what's going on.

[MikeDu]

Just look at that photo accompanying the headline. Jeez. Bush is certainly 'Mr. Body English', isn't he? He seems to be thinking "My brain may be tiny but at least I know which mask to put on for each occasion."

[JinnRikki]

Anyone remember Baghdad Bob? I think Bush is trying to make us forget him. Bombs? What bombs?
Oooo look over there it's a shiny thingy......

[transendentilist]

Too funny Jinn. It's the way I see it too. This administration has been doing that since day one.

[couch2000]

you all are beating an old drum here, did you all forget that Bush is not running for President?, it is John Mcain and Obama, i think the country needs someone to stand up to these Radical Islam Haters toward America instead of someone worried about us injuring one of the poor terroist at gitmo, poor terroist, bless there hearts, Obama isfavors Islam, he is part muslim, this isnt good for America and sitting withPastor Wright for 20 years i think he needs to raise thos thousands of dead soldiers that give him and Wright the Right to speak hate speech and opoligize to them, shame on those guys

[LoveOverGold]

Easy words for a rich frat boy who never had to fight or experience violence first hand.

[Nochnoi]

That is why he thinks combat in war is..... "Romantic"

[speakingtruth2power]

Bush's only first hand experience with violence was torturing small animals as a kid.

Now he gets to watch tapes of our CIA torturing suspected al Qaeda w/ Darth Cheney.

[combatveteran]

Thats what makes me sick, even more so the bisquit eatin, lard ass chickens that talk tough on the blogs.

[research]

The Permanent republican fascist majority is still moving forward toward a Hoover depression, so they can further dominate the peasants and avoid prosecution.

That is why Impeachment hearings are NEEDED, I could care less if the Senate rethugs block conviction, ...

Impeachment hearings are so necessary to put the BushCo fascists on the defensive:

to stop and reverse their forward momentum toward total control.

To stop the Iran War Crime from every starting

To end the Iraq War Crime,

To stop Torture, DOJ partisan justice, Orwellian surveillance, Looting of the treasury by war profiteering cronies, partisan MSM propaganda blitz, and god knows what else.

We need to strip away executive privilege and expose the fascist cronyism that has stained our democratic republic. We need to strip away the 1000's of lies and deceptions of Bush&Co.

House: start the Impeachment! posted

[pizzmoe]

I'd love to hear him explain why we're still in Iraq. How long should it take to "get the job done"? (Whatever the hell that means)

[LoveOverGold]

[invocation] Tell of the birth
Tell how war appeared on earth

Thunder and herbs
conjugated sacred verbs
musicians with gongs
fertilized an egg with song
Asleep in the sphere
her fetus was a knot of fear
she butted with her horn
split an egg and war was born
A miracle of hate
she banged her spoon against her plate

Upon this spoon her motto
wonderfully designed:
"violence completes the partial mind"

- Henry Cow

[argent1]

"I always like to be in the presence of somebody who does what he says he's going to do. ... This is a guy who meant it. ... He consulted closely with his friends...." -- So George must luv Bin Laden too!

[peacepenguin]

To quote Samuel L. Jackson:

"Who brought the motherfuckin' snakes on the motherfuckin' plane?"

When o when will this Administration own up to having begun this chaos with their moronic invasion decision and ridiculously inadequate war plan?

"Necessary for freedom"??? Impeachment's the only thing that's been "necessary for freedom."

[transendentilist]

Absolutely. Impeachment would show the world that democracy does work. It would show the world that yes, in America, justice prevails. But I doubt that will ever happen. We, as a nation, have ignored everything that's good and right about America.