Twitter
StumbleUpon
Facebook
Delicious
Digg
Newsvine
Google
Yahoo
TechnoratiUpbeat Bush Hints at More Troops for Iraq
THE US President, George Bush, has given his strongest indication yet that he intends to continue with plans to increase troop numbers in Iraq after the September 15 report to Congress, when he delivered an upbeat assessment of military progress and a more positive view of the political outlook.
He also warned that pulling out of Iraq would harm US interests in the Middle East for decades and expose America to the threat of increased terrorism and a nuclear arms race in the region by allowing al-Qaeda-backed Sunni extremists to flourish and Shiite extremism in Iran to spread.
The Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, added fuel to the fire on Tuesday, saying that America's power in Iraq was rapidly collapsing and that Iran was ready to step in to help fill the vacuum.
In the Iraqi city of Karbala, about 100 kilometres south of Baghdad, riots that left at least 52 people dead and 206 injured continued yesterday, as more troops and police were trucked in by Iraqi authorities. Gun battles between rival Shiite groups escalated, causing hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to flee after a two-day religious festival.
An indefinite curfew has been imposed on the city, which had earlier been the scene of jubilation and religious fervour, as thousands walked for hours to pray at the shrines of Muhammad al-Mahdi, a revered Shiite cleric. Violence reportedly broke out when police tried to confiscate weapons at entrances to the shrines.
Many of the gunmen were linked to Moqtada al-Sadr, the influential preacher whose followers make up Iraq's largest Shiite militia, the Mahdi Army.
During recent months, the militants have been fighting the Badr Organisation, a rival Shiite group, whose followers include many of the region's police officers, for control of southern Iraq.
Mr Bush, who was speaking at the annual American Legion convention in Reno, Nevada, on Tuesday, painted a graphic picture of what would happen in the Middle East if the US pulled out.
"Extremists of all strains could be emboldened by the knowledge that they forced America to retreat," he said. "Terrorists could have more safe havens to conduct attacks on Americans and our friends and allies. Iran could conclude we were weak and could not stop them gaining nuclear weapons."
He also warned that once Iran had nuclear weapons it would set off a nuclear arms race in the region. It would allow extremists to control a key part of the world's energy supply and hold the Western world to ransom.
But the President did not mention military action against Iran - something some advisers are urging him to consider - instead stressing that the US was pursuing a diplomatic strategy of isolating Iran through a united front on economic sanctions.
It was not all gloom and doom. Mr Bush also gave his most upbeat assessment of the progress in Iraq to date, quashing speculation in Washington that the Administration wants the Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, replaced and was contemplating whether the form of consensus democracy it had installed in Iraq was viable.
"There are unmistakable signs that our strategy is achieving the objectives we set out. Our new strategy is showing results in the places where it matters most - the cities and neighbourhoods where ordinary Iraqis live," he said.
In a news conference broadcast live on Iranian state television on Tuesday, Mr Ahmadinejad said that the political power "of the occupiers [of Iraq] is being destroyed rapidly and very soon we will be witnessing a great power vacuum in the region".
"We, with the help of regional friends and the Iraqi nation, are ready to fill this void," he said.
He also rejected reports that Iran had slowed sensitive nuclear work which the West fears is aimed at making nuclear bombs, and said it would respond if the US went ahead and branded the elite Revolutionary Guards a terrorist force.
Mr Bush plans to ask Congress next month for up to $US50 billion ($61 billion) in additional funding for the war in Iraq, a White House official said on Tuesday, a move that appears to reflect increasing White House confidence that it can fend off congressional calls for a rapid drawback of forces.
The request - which would be in addition to about $US460 billion in the fiscal 2008 defence budget and $US147 billion in a pending supplemental bill to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq - is expected to be announced after congressional hearings scheduled for mid-September.
Copyright © 2007. The Sydney Morning Herald.
21 Comments so far
Show AllBu$h the inferior would never say draft. He is going all the way with mercenaries. After the money is gone and a REAL military threat exists, then a draft will be necessary to win a war.
Draftees are highly motivated to defend against real threats so that they can go home. Too many professional soldiers love war.
This is more of that fairytale stuff from The Boy...
..."Our new strategy is showing results in the places where it matters most - the cities and neighbourhoods where ordinary Iraqis live,"
Iraqis are fleeing their neighborhoods in record numbers, and that's just the ones who are still alive. It's created the most critical refugee crises since the ethnic cleansing of millions of Palestinians, and yet The Boy says the "new strategy" is showing results in places where it matters most - where ordinary Iraqis are fleeing their homes in mass numbers.
One can therefor only assume that for Boy George, THIS is exactly what his strategy involved. Running all of the Iraqis out of Iraq.
"THE US President, George Bush, has given his strongest indication yet that he intends to continue with plans to increase troop numbers in Iraq after the September 15 report to Congress, when he delivered an upbeat assessment of military progress and a more positive view of the political outlook."
"When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers." - Oscar Wilde,
NOTHING will happen untill we have a revolution here,Our government has done so much destruction of our civil liberties so fast with the patriot acts and new interpretations of the constitution , that the only way out to regain our freedom is through a revolution ,abolish the two party system and make and stablish ways for more political parties to run and represent. For now we could only do one thing, vote for Dennis Kucinich and hope for the best.
Nuke em! No need for a draft. Show em what Shock and Awe Really is Bushie Boy, you damn fool.
I heard that Bush was moving troops to DC.
Is this to protect Americans from Bush or the other way around?
""what troops are left for the increase?" Can you say DRAFT?"
yeah i was gonna say it but too disgusted even to use the word. i think though once a draft is put into place, then MAYBE, just maybe people will rebel againt this sinister crapola and say no farking more!
If you go by body counts and destruction we have won the war in Iraq by a landslide.
People shouldn't be so quick to claim win or lose.
And gas is now more expensive there than here.
does anyone have a ballpark figure of how many more he might request?
Any rumor will humor me :-)
The only way to win a war is either to withdraw and tell everyone it really was a victory or, wipe them out. The later will not work as the conflict has forced large numbers to flee to other countries and they will remain a threat for generations and, genocide has a terrible way of coming back at you these days.
Oh Yeah, Bush knows.... he's been right about Everything so far.... E-haw and he ain't no Texan, he's a Connecticut boy who moved to Texas to get in the game.
What in the Hell is Congress doing, anyway???
Grrrrrrrrr.
George Bush, president father, please forward this to your son, Quaggenbush.
You don't know anything, Quaggenbush, about what will happen after we pull out of Iraq.
Almost anybody knows more about this than you.
"...pulling out of Iraq would harm US interests in the Middle East for decades..."
For "US interests" read: "the interests of the oil business. Someone in the thick of the awl bidness is hardly likely to realize that its interests have been diverging from those of the rest of the country (and the world) for quite some time.
Ya'll know the Democrats will support this, right? Just like before.
FIFTY BILLION WOULD BUY A LOT OF REAL ESTATE IN MEXICO. THEN WE COULD START DRILLING AND REDUCE OUR IMPORTS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST.THEY COULD START SHOOTING THEMSELVES IN THE FOOT FOR TARGET PRACTICE,GO BACK TO STONING THEIR WIVES LOVERS AND STOP KISSING UP TO THE BUSH OIL FAMILY.
IS THE TEXAS BULLSHIPPER GOING TO COMMUTE HIS OWN SENTENCE? WE DO NOT WANT HIS LIBRARY IN DALLAS OR CRAWFORD. WE DO NOT WANT HIM TO EVER CROSS THE RED RIVER AGAIN. NO MORE BRUSH !
It's becoming obvious to even congressional Republicans that Junior occupies a parallel universe ever more divorced from reality. They know if they don't start distancing themselves, they won't survive the next election. I suspect Junior's saber-rattling and nuke-waving unsettles them even more than us. Maybe they'll be the ones to rein him in.
Nice how a guy who supported the vietnam war but was too cowardly hypocrite to go and serve is so cavalier about sending others over there.
But he is just in denial. Then again the Congress will bend over for him.
as in beer???
"what troops are left for the increase?" Can you say DRAFT?
what troops are left for the increase? not one damn dime more should go to this stupid war.