WASHINGTON - President Bush said Monday insurgents in Iraq were trying to ignite a civil war by escalating violence and warned there will be more "chaos and carnage in the days and months to come."
Even on a particularly grim day, when four Iraqi bodies were found hanging from utility towers and Iraqis coped with the deaths of at least 58 people the day before when car bombings and mortar rounds plagued Baghdad's Sadr City slum, the president said progress was being made.
There was relative peace in Iraq on Monday, even though bomb blasts and shootings in Baghdad and north of the capital killed at least 15. It was the second time in less than three weeks that Iraqis stood at the precipice of civil war and pulled back.
Bush highlighted improvements in the Iraqi security forces and repeated his promise that U.S. troops will stand down as Iraqi forces are able to defend the country.
"By their response over the past two weeks, Iraqis have shown the world they want a future of freedom and peace," Bush said in the first of a series of speeches to mark the third anniversary of the start of the U.S.-led war. "And they will oppose a violent minority that seeks to take that future away from them by tearing their country apart."
Democrats charged that Bush was focusing on the same old rhetoric defending policies that Americans oppose instead of a real strategy for victory in Iraq. Both sides of the political debate have their eye on midterm elections in eight months.
"Rather than leading a White House public relations blitz, the president should lead by pulling the factions together right away in a summit to develop a unified plan for Iraq's future," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), D-Mass.
Bush urged patience among Americans and coalition allies as Iraqis work to form a new government. He said the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra "was a clear attempt to ignite a civil war."
"I wish I could tell you that the violence is waning and that the road ahead will be smooth," Bush said. "It will not. There will be more tough fighting and more days of struggle, and we will see more images of chaos and carnage in the days and months to come."
He said the terrorists are using violence in hopes that they can "shake our resolve and force us to retreat. They're not going to succeed."
The president, speaking to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies at George Washington University, said the Iraqi military is taking on more responsibility. He said it was Iraqis, not coalition forces, who restored order after the attack in Samarra.
So Mr. President, I have a simple question to ask you--what are you going to do about this?
Now interestingly enough, back in February 28, 2005, President Bush actually denied that Iraq was heading into a civil war. Consider this previous post that I had written from this Yahoo News story:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush, hit by polls showing America's support for the Iraq war at an all-time low, denied on Tuesday Iraq was sliding into civil war, despite the worst sectarian strife since a U.S. invasion.
Asked what Washington would do if civil war broke out in Iraq, Bush told ABC News: "I don't buy your premise that there's going to be a civil war."
Or how about this previous post that I wrote, where Bush declared that the choice for Iraqis was a choice of chaos or unity? Here's the original Yahoo News story with the Bush quote:
"The people of Iraq and their leaders must make a choice," Bush said. "The choice is chaos or unity, the choice is a free society, or a society dictated by evil people who would kill innocents.
So Mr. President, what are you going to do about this?
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