Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Media: AFP
Byline:
Date: 18 October 2006
GREENSBORO, North Carolina, Oct 18, 2006 (AFP) - The White House said
Wednesday that a steep spike in US deaths on Iraq, including 10 killed in a
single day, would not lead to a reassessment of the US strategy there.
"The strategy is to win," spokesman Tony Snow said as US President George
W. Bush traveled here to push his education policy. "As everybody says,
correctly, we've got to win. And that comes at a cost."
"The president understands not only the difficulty of it, but he grieves
for the people who have served and served with valor," said Snow, who told
reporters that US forces "do believe in the mission."
Bush's Republican Party fears that the unpopular war may cost them control
of the US Congress in November elections, and some have recently called for
reassessing US strategy in Iraq.
Snow declined to say whether radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose forces
have at times battled US troops and Iraqi soldiers, was an enemy or an
ally, and flatly rejected talk of dividing Iraq into three regions.
"We have considered partition. Again, you consider every possible option.
But we've also determined that it is not, for a series of reasons, a wise
option for the stability of Iraq or for the region," he said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, in a telephone conversation Monday
with Bush, "described partition as not only undermining the government, but
also providing encouragement to terrorists," said the spokesman.
Asked whether Sadr was an enemy or a friend of the United States, Snow
would only say that the firebrand cleric "is a factor in Iraq" and note
"he's clearly a player in Iraq, and we hope he'll play a constructive
role."
"If Moqtada al-Sadr wants to play a constructive role, is to make sure that
-- to cooperate with Prime Minister Maliki in dealing with militias," said
the spokesman.
Snow noted that Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, one of the highest Shiite
religious authorities in Iraq, and Maliki had each reached out to Sadr, and
concluded "I think it's best left to them to figure out how best to deal
with each other."
Sadr's movement has a vast military wing known as the Mahdi Army which is
widely believed to be active in the spate of sectarian murders that leaves
corpses scattered around the capital every morning.
Sadr has 30 seats in parliament and several ministries are controlled by
his followers.
Byline:
Date: 18 October 2006
GREENSBORO, North Carolina, Oct 18, 2006 (AFP) - The White House said
Wednesday that a steep spike in US deaths on Iraq, including 10 killed in a
single day, would not lead to a reassessment of the US strategy there.
"The strategy is to win," spokesman Tony Snow said as US President George
W. Bush traveled here to push his education policy. "As everybody says,
correctly, we've got to win. And that comes at a cost."
"The president understands not only the difficulty of it, but he grieves
for the people who have served and served with valor," said Snow, who told
reporters that US forces "do believe in the mission."
Bush's Republican Party fears that the unpopular war may cost them control
of the US Congress in November elections, and some have recently called for
reassessing US strategy in Iraq.
Snow declined to say whether radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose forces
have at times battled US troops and Iraqi soldiers, was an enemy or an
ally, and flatly rejected talk of dividing Iraq into three regions.
"We have considered partition. Again, you consider every possible option.
But we've also determined that it is not, for a series of reasons, a wise
option for the stability of Iraq or for the region," he said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, in a telephone conversation Monday
with Bush, "described partition as not only undermining the government, but
also providing encouragement to terrorists," said the spokesman.
Asked whether Sadr was an enemy or a friend of the United States, Snow
would only say that the firebrand cleric "is a factor in Iraq" and note
"he's clearly a player in Iraq, and we hope he'll play a constructive
role."
"If Moqtada al-Sadr wants to play a constructive role, is to make sure that
-- to cooperate with Prime Minister Maliki in dealing with militias," said
the spokesman.
Snow noted that Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, one of the highest Shiite
religious authorities in Iraq, and Maliki had each reached out to Sadr, and
concluded "I think it's best left to them to figure out how best to deal
with each other."
Sadr's movement has a vast military wing known as the Mahdi Army which is
widely believed to be active in the spate of sectarian murders that leaves
corpses scattered around the capital every morning.
Sadr has 30 seats in parliament and several ministries are controlled by
his followers.