Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
May 25, 2007
Pg. 8
By Jim Rutenberg
WASHINGTON, May 24 — President Bush warned Thursday that casualties in Iraq could increase over the summer as the United States completes its troop buildup there.
On a day when he expressed satisfaction with a deal in Congress that would finance American operations in Iraq and Afghanistan without the schedules for withdrawal from Iraq that Democrats had sought, Mr. Bush nonetheless said: “We’re going to expect heavy fighting in the weeks and months. We can expect more American and Iraqi casualties.” He added, “It could be a bloody — it could be a very difficult August.”
Mr. Bush said the added forces he deployed to Iraq would not be fully in place until mid-June. Officials have said for months that they expect the added numbers to fuel fiercer fighting and resistance into August and beyond, requiring periodic public assurances that things will look worse before they look better.
Mr. Bush made his comments during a news briefing in the Rose Garden at which he was occasionally combative but mostly good humored, clearly relishing the expected end — for now — of his fight with Congress over war funds.
But his statements about his new Iraq plan reflected deep concern at the White House that an intense summer of fighting and higher casualties could further undermine support for the war and lead Democrats to take a harder line in future legislative clashes over how to proceed in Iraq.
Mr. Bush has often warned of the risks of spikes in violence during crucial periods in Iraq, saying that insurgents and terrorists are testing the will of the United States and the Iraqi government to persevere.
In this case, he said that while the troop increase might mean more casualties in the short run, it would ultimately lead to a more stable Baghdad.
“Our new strategy is designed to help Iraq’s leaders provide security for their people and get control of their capital, so they can move forward with reconciliation and reconstruction,” Mr. Bush said. “As these reinforcements carry out their missions, the enemies of a free Iraq — including Al Qaeda and illegal militias — will continue to bomb and murder in an attempt to stop us.”
Mr. Bush said he envisioned a time when the added troops had brought violence to a low enough level that he could pursue a scaled-down strategy similar to that recommended by the Iraq Study Group, in which American forces would cede more control to their Iraqi counterparts.
“The recommendations of Baker-Hamilton appeal to me,” Mr. Bush said, referring to the study group’s co-chairmen, James A. Baker III and Lee H. Hamilton. “And that is to be embedded and to train and to guard the territorial integrity of the country, and to have Special Forces to chase down Al Qaeda.”
It was Mr. Bush’s first full, solo news conference in three months, and it was dominated by not only Iraq but also other bits of unfinished business that loom large in Mr. Bush’s last year and a half in office.
Asked about a new report about Iran’s nuclear capabilities and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s vow to keep developing them, Mr. Bush said he would speak to his Russian and Chinese counterparts about how to “strengthen our sanction regime” and curtail Iran’s program.
He chastised Iran for detaining three American citizens, most recently a consultant working for the Open Society Institute, the nonprofit organization funded by the billionaire philanthropist, and liberal activist, George Soros.
And he seemed to take a swipe at John Edwards, a Democratic presidential candidate, while answering a question about a Congressional report accusing Mr. Bush of ignoring preinvasion warnings that a war in Iraq could help expand Al Qaeda and Iranian influence. “This notion about how this isn’t a war on terror, in my view, is naïve,” he said. “It doesn’t reflect the true nature of the world in which we live.”
In an address before the Council on Foreign Relations on Wednesday, Mr. Edwards had said that the term “global war on terror” masked what he called a flawed strategy that pitted the United States against Islam.
An aide to Mr. Bush said such comments from the campaign trail have not gone unnoticed by Mr. Bush, who clearly felt compelled to weigh in.
There was another indication that the subject of the next president is on his mind, as Mr. Bush responded almost angrily to a question about whether he still had credibility when he had warned, as he did on Wednesday, that Al Qaeda was seeking to set up a terrorist sanctuary Iraq. “They are a threat to your children,” Mr. Bush said of Al Qaeda. “Whoever is in the Oval Office better understand it, and take measures necessary to protect the American people.”
Asked why Osama bin Laden was still at large, Mr. Bush responded that he was “not out there traipsing around, he’s not leading many parades, however — he’s not out feeding the hungry.”
But with the compromise on war funds within reach, it was mostly an upbeat day at the West Wing.
And not even the sight of a bird relieving itself upon the president’s arm during the news briefing, and his wiping the residue away, could dampen spirits. “It’s our lucky day,” said Dana Perino, a deputy White House press secretary.
Thom Shanker contributed reporting.
May 25, 2007
Pg. 8
By Jim Rutenberg
WASHINGTON, May 24 — President Bush warned Thursday that casualties in Iraq could increase over the summer as the United States completes its troop buildup there.
On a day when he expressed satisfaction with a deal in Congress that would finance American operations in Iraq and Afghanistan without the schedules for withdrawal from Iraq that Democrats had sought, Mr. Bush nonetheless said: “We’re going to expect heavy fighting in the weeks and months. We can expect more American and Iraqi casualties.” He added, “It could be a bloody — it could be a very difficult August.”
Mr. Bush said the added forces he deployed to Iraq would not be fully in place until mid-June. Officials have said for months that they expect the added numbers to fuel fiercer fighting and resistance into August and beyond, requiring periodic public assurances that things will look worse before they look better.
Mr. Bush made his comments during a news briefing in the Rose Garden at which he was occasionally combative but mostly good humored, clearly relishing the expected end — for now — of his fight with Congress over war funds.
But his statements about his new Iraq plan reflected deep concern at the White House that an intense summer of fighting and higher casualties could further undermine support for the war and lead Democrats to take a harder line in future legislative clashes over how to proceed in Iraq.
Mr. Bush has often warned of the risks of spikes in violence during crucial periods in Iraq, saying that insurgents and terrorists are testing the will of the United States and the Iraqi government to persevere.
In this case, he said that while the troop increase might mean more casualties in the short run, it would ultimately lead to a more stable Baghdad.
“Our new strategy is designed to help Iraq’s leaders provide security for their people and get control of their capital, so they can move forward with reconciliation and reconstruction,” Mr. Bush said. “As these reinforcements carry out their missions, the enemies of a free Iraq — including Al Qaeda and illegal militias — will continue to bomb and murder in an attempt to stop us.”
Mr. Bush said he envisioned a time when the added troops had brought violence to a low enough level that he could pursue a scaled-down strategy similar to that recommended by the Iraq Study Group, in which American forces would cede more control to their Iraqi counterparts.
“The recommendations of Baker-Hamilton appeal to me,” Mr. Bush said, referring to the study group’s co-chairmen, James A. Baker III and Lee H. Hamilton. “And that is to be embedded and to train and to guard the territorial integrity of the country, and to have Special Forces to chase down Al Qaeda.”
It was Mr. Bush’s first full, solo news conference in three months, and it was dominated by not only Iraq but also other bits of unfinished business that loom large in Mr. Bush’s last year and a half in office.
Asked about a new report about Iran’s nuclear capabilities and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s vow to keep developing them, Mr. Bush said he would speak to his Russian and Chinese counterparts about how to “strengthen our sanction regime” and curtail Iran’s program.
He chastised Iran for detaining three American citizens, most recently a consultant working for the Open Society Institute, the nonprofit organization funded by the billionaire philanthropist, and liberal activist, George Soros.
And he seemed to take a swipe at John Edwards, a Democratic presidential candidate, while answering a question about a Congressional report accusing Mr. Bush of ignoring preinvasion warnings that a war in Iraq could help expand Al Qaeda and Iranian influence. “This notion about how this isn’t a war on terror, in my view, is naïve,” he said. “It doesn’t reflect the true nature of the world in which we live.”
In an address before the Council on Foreign Relations on Wednesday, Mr. Edwards had said that the term “global war on terror” masked what he called a flawed strategy that pitted the United States against Islam.
An aide to Mr. Bush said such comments from the campaign trail have not gone unnoticed by Mr. Bush, who clearly felt compelled to weigh in.
There was another indication that the subject of the next president is on his mind, as Mr. Bush responded almost angrily to a question about whether he still had credibility when he had warned, as he did on Wednesday, that Al Qaeda was seeking to set up a terrorist sanctuary Iraq. “They are a threat to your children,” Mr. Bush said of Al Qaeda. “Whoever is in the Oval Office better understand it, and take measures necessary to protect the American people.”
Asked why Osama bin Laden was still at large, Mr. Bush responded that he was “not out there traipsing around, he’s not leading many parades, however — he’s not out feeding the hungry.”
But with the compromise on war funds within reach, it was mostly an upbeat day at the West Wing.
And not even the sight of a bird relieving itself upon the president’s arm during the news briefing, and his wiping the residue away, could dampen spirits. “It’s our lucky day,” said Dana Perino, a deputy White House press secretary.
Thom Shanker contributed reporting.