Bush vows to stick with Iraq

WASHINGTON - Struggling to maintain public support for his Iraq policy, President George W. Bush vows that United States forces will not leave Iraq and says he has never misled Americans about the difficulties of occupying the country.

The carnage in Iraq continued yesterday as a suicide bomber killed himself and at least four others.

And another American soldier was confirmed killed and six other troops wounded in a Baghdad rocket attack. Bush blamed the violence on members of Saddam Hussein's ousted Baath Party and "foreign terrorists".

Foreign aid workers agonised over whether to quit the country following this week's 35-death bloodbath in Baghdad.

One of the casualties in the violence was Baghdad deputy mayor Faris al-Assam, killed in a drive-by shooting.

Yesterday's suicide bomber blew up his small car outside a school 100m from a police station in Fallujah, in the "Sunni Triangle" where resistance to occupation is stiffest.

US soldiers sealed off the area after the blast, which set cars ablaze and scattered body parts across the street.

Bush, seeking re-election next year amid criticism in some quarters of his Iraq policies, said he expected Syria and Iran to enforce border controls to stop infiltrators.

He has refused to say when he thinks US troops will be able to begin leaving Iraq, reaffirming instead his commitment to stay the course until a democratic Iraqi Government can run the country.

Yesterday he alternated between showing resolve and annoyance as he was peppered with questions during a rare news conference.

Several independent analysts described the move as a desperate attempt by a White House that is trying to stem serious erosion in public support for its handling of Iraq.

The Bush Administration "had a terrible week in Iraq, and they know it", said Larry Sabato, director of the Centre for Politics at the University of Virginia.

"Americans are starting to see Vietnam without the jungle. This [news conference] was something they had to do to reverse the public view of our mission in Iraq."

The news conference came after the most devastating spate of attacks on US troops in Iraq since Bush declared an end to US combat operations six months ago.

At least 35 people, including one US soldier, were killed and 230 were wounded when car bombs exploded at the Red Cross headquarters and three Iraqi police stations.

The President repeated his claim that the attacks show that US and coalition forces are making progress in Iraq and the attackers are desperate to stop this.

"That's what terrorists do. They commit suicide acts against innocent people and then expect people to say,'Well, gosh, we better not try to fight any more'.

"I say they are not going to intimidate America."

Bush said the US would not be deterred from completing its mission of ridding Iraq of the influence of Saddam, rebuilding the war-torn country and handing it over to an elected Iraqi Government.

But he would not say how long it would be before American soldiers could start coming home. He brushed aside a question on whether he could promise that the number of US troops would be cut within a year.

He bristled at questions about whether he acted prematurely when he landed in a fighter jet on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1 and declared the military mission a success, and whether he has kept Americans fully informed on the difficulty of securing a postwar Iraq.

"Yes, I can't put it any more plainly, Iraq is a dangerous place. That's levelling," Bush said.

"What I was saying is there's more than just terrorist attacks that are taking place in Iraq. There are schools opening, there are hospitals opening."

Bush declared he was so pleased with progress in Iraq that he intended to make his war record a cornerstone of his re-election campaign. "I'll say that the world is more peaceful and more free under my leadership, and America is more secure."

That could be dicey, as polls reveal more Americans are starting to doubt the White House's positive assessment of its postwar effort.

Independent analysts said fear of further slippage in polls and the almost daily deaths from Iraq forced the White House to call yesterday's news conference. Yesterday's session was Bush's 10th solo news conference since becoming President. Bill Clinton had held 34 such news conferences at this point of his first term.

Judith Kipper, director of the Middle East Forum at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the White House was starting to view Iraq through the prism of next year's elections and was getting nervous. "They're sticking to their guns on the [Iraq] policy:'We're right, you're wrong, the media's wrong.' But the number of people getting killed in Iraq tells a different story."

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq