Bush vows to adapt Iraq tactics

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
Media:BBC News
Byline:n/a
Date: 22 Oct 2006

Body:


US President George W Bush has said military tactics in Iraq will keep
changing to deal with insurgents.

But the US would not abandon the goal of building a strong democracy, Mr
Bush said in his regular radio address.

Saturday saw Mr Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Defence Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld discuss the escalating violence in Iraq with senior
generals.

The talks came as 17 people were killed in a mortar attack on a market near
the capital Baghdad.

Iraqi state television reported that 30 people had also been injured in the
attack on the crowded outdoor market in the area of Mahmoudiya.

In other violence on Saturday:

* Three US marines were killed "by enemy action" in Anbar province

It's high time Bush and his followers acknowledged their failed
policies and left Iraqis alone to sort out the mess that the invasion caused
Willy Kisitu
Wroclaw, Poland

# Four people died and 15 were injured in a suicide bomb attack on a Baghdad
bus

# The US military said troops killed a senior al-Qaeda in Iraq leader in
Ramadi, 110km (68 miles) west of Baghdad. He was not named

# Clashes have broken out between Shia militants and Iraqi police in the
town of Suweira, south-east of Baghdad, killing at least three

The violence follows two days of clashes between Shia militias and Iraqi
police in the southern town of Amara, in which more than 30 people were
killed.

Election issue

Mr Bush's handling of the Iraq crisis has become a major issue in the
elections next month for Congress, and opinion polls are suggesting that Mr
Bush's Republican party could potentially lose control of the Senate and
House of Representatives.

On Saturday, President Bush met his senior generals via a video
teleconference.

The BBC's James Westhead in Washington said that while there was no
announcement of a change in tactics, one option thought to be considered is
increasing troop numbers in the short term to try to reduce sectarian
violence.

According to the US military, there has been a 22% rise in attacks in
Baghdad this month.

With 78 US troops killed so far, October is on course to become the
deadliest month for US forces in Iraq for two years.

In his radio address from the White House, Mr Bush said the last few weeks
had been "rough for our troops in Iraq, and for the Iraqi people".

"Our goal in Iraq is clear and unchanging," he said. "Our goal is victory.
What is changing are the tactics we use to achieve that goal."

He said the insurgents were fighting a media war and were attempting to
drive a wedge between the American people and their government.

In the US, leaders of the opposition Democratic Party have sought to put
further pressure on Mr Bush by calling for the start of a phased withdrawal
of US troops from Iraq by the end of the year.

They also want the president to convene an international conference to
support what they call a political settlement in Iraq.
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