Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
January 17, 2007
By Jim Rutenberg
WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 — President Bush said Tuesday that Iraq had “fumbled” the executions of Saddam Hussein and two of his deputies, and that the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki “has still got some maturation to do.”
The president’s remarks were the most extensive yet on the executions, and they pointed up the continued tensions between Mr. Bush and Mr. Maliki as they try to forge a joint plan to calm the violence plaguing Iraq.
Mr. Bush expressed particular displeasure with the handling of Mr. Hussein’s hanging in late December, at which guards chanted their allegiance to the radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, who backs Mr. Maliki and whose militia has been a major source of anti-Sunni violence.
“It basically says to people, ‘Look, you conducted a trial and gave Saddam justice that he didn’t give to others,’ ” Mr. Bush said in an interview with Jim Lehrer of PBS. “But then when it came to execute him, it looked like it was kind of a revenge killing.”
The president has said that Mr. Maliki has given him assurances that political considerations will not hinder Iraqi and American forces from going after the militias, including Mr. Sadr’s.
But the notion that Mr. Maliki’s government will crack down on Mr. Sadr, a course considered crucial to the success of Mr. Bush’s new plan for Iraq, has been met with skepticism. And Mr. Bush said the handling of the execution only added to the questions.
“It reinforced doubts in people’s minds that the Maliki government and the unity government of Iraq is a serious government,” Mr. Bush said, “which makes it harder for me to make the case to the American people that this is a government that does want to unify the country and move forward.”
Mr. Bush spoke with Mr. Lehrer, host of the “The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer” on PBS, as part of a media tour aimed at rebuilding support for the war and, more specifically, the new war plan he announced last week. Officials have said that Mr. Bush was in part trying to build credibility after so many setbacks in Iraq by nodding to troubles there.
“We have to swallow hard and remind people the president realizes how hard it is,” said a White House official involved in the strategy.
The interview on PBS was the second shown in three days in which Mr. Bush went into detail acknowledging setbacks and public frustration.
“If you were to take it and put me in an opinion poll and said, ‘Do I approve of Iraq?’ I’d be one of those that said, ‘No, I don’t approve of what’s taking place in Iraq,’ ” Mr. Bush said in the interview.
“On the other hand, I do believe we can succeed,” he said.
Mr. Bush said on “60 Minutes” on Sunday night, “No question decisions have made things unstable,” though he added, “But the question is, can we succeed? And I believe we can.”
Democrats and even some Republicans have interpreted Mr. Bush’s plan to send more than 20,000 additional troops to Iraq as a refutation of the suggestions of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which had as its chairmen Lee H. Hamilton, a former Democratic congressman, and a longtime Republican aide to Mr. Bush’s father, James A. Baker III.
Mr. Bush said he did not disagree with the report’s overall suggestion that United States military operations shift their focus to training the Iraqis and going after terrorists. But he said the Iraqis were not yet strong enough to take the lead in combating sectarian strife.
“They have a good strategy inherent in their report towards the role of U.S. troops inside Iraq,” Mr. Bush said. “It’s just that there needs to be an interim stage in order to achieve that objective.”
January 17, 2007
By Jim Rutenberg
WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 — President Bush said Tuesday that Iraq had “fumbled” the executions of Saddam Hussein and two of his deputies, and that the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki “has still got some maturation to do.”
The president’s remarks were the most extensive yet on the executions, and they pointed up the continued tensions between Mr. Bush and Mr. Maliki as they try to forge a joint plan to calm the violence plaguing Iraq.
Mr. Bush expressed particular displeasure with the handling of Mr. Hussein’s hanging in late December, at which guards chanted their allegiance to the radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, who backs Mr. Maliki and whose militia has been a major source of anti-Sunni violence.
“It basically says to people, ‘Look, you conducted a trial and gave Saddam justice that he didn’t give to others,’ ” Mr. Bush said in an interview with Jim Lehrer of PBS. “But then when it came to execute him, it looked like it was kind of a revenge killing.”
The president has said that Mr. Maliki has given him assurances that political considerations will not hinder Iraqi and American forces from going after the militias, including Mr. Sadr’s.
But the notion that Mr. Maliki’s government will crack down on Mr. Sadr, a course considered crucial to the success of Mr. Bush’s new plan for Iraq, has been met with skepticism. And Mr. Bush said the handling of the execution only added to the questions.
“It reinforced doubts in people’s minds that the Maliki government and the unity government of Iraq is a serious government,” Mr. Bush said, “which makes it harder for me to make the case to the American people that this is a government that does want to unify the country and move forward.”
Mr. Bush spoke with Mr. Lehrer, host of the “The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer” on PBS, as part of a media tour aimed at rebuilding support for the war and, more specifically, the new war plan he announced last week. Officials have said that Mr. Bush was in part trying to build credibility after so many setbacks in Iraq by nodding to troubles there.
“We have to swallow hard and remind people the president realizes how hard it is,” said a White House official involved in the strategy.
The interview on PBS was the second shown in three days in which Mr. Bush went into detail acknowledging setbacks and public frustration.
“If you were to take it and put me in an opinion poll and said, ‘Do I approve of Iraq?’ I’d be one of those that said, ‘No, I don’t approve of what’s taking place in Iraq,’ ” Mr. Bush said in the interview.
“On the other hand, I do believe we can succeed,” he said.
Mr. Bush said on “60 Minutes” on Sunday night, “No question decisions have made things unstable,” though he added, “But the question is, can we succeed? And I believe we can.”
Democrats and even some Republicans have interpreted Mr. Bush’s plan to send more than 20,000 additional troops to Iraq as a refutation of the suggestions of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which had as its chairmen Lee H. Hamilton, a former Democratic congressman, and a longtime Republican aide to Mr. Bush’s father, James A. Baker III.
Mr. Bush said he did not disagree with the report’s overall suggestion that United States military operations shift their focus to training the Iraqis and going after terrorists. But he said the Iraqis were not yet strong enough to take the lead in combating sectarian strife.
“They have a good strategy inherent in their report towards the role of U.S. troops inside Iraq,” Mr. Bush said. “It’s just that there needs to be an interim stage in order to achieve that objective.”