Bush Says U.S. Must Honor Troops' Sacrifice, Finish Job in Iraq
By Jay Newton-Small in Crawford, Texas
Public opinion polls show the administration losing support on Iraq as attacks by insurgents have mounted. Six U.S. soldiers were killed in combat in Iraq this week, bringing total U.S. deaths there to 1,861. Critics say Bush needs to shift his strategy.
``There is no strategy to win,'' former Senator Max Cleland, a Georgia Democrat and veteran who lost three limbs in the Vietnam war, said in the Democrats' weekly radio address. ``Our military is completely over-extended. Iraq is still not secure and we don't have the forces there to make it secure.''
The president, who is spending August at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, linked the conflict in Iraq to the broader war against terrorism that began with the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S.
``We're fighting the terrorists in Afghanistan, Iraq, and around the world, striking them in foreign lands before they can attack us here at home,'' Bush said.
The troops deployed overseas know they are fighting ``to protect their fellow Americans from a savage enemy,'' he said.
Protests at Home
The protest near Bush's ranch began two weeks ago when Cindy Sheehan of Vacaville, California, angry over her son Casey's death while serving in Iraq, camped out and demanded that Bush meet with her. Bush declined, instead sending two aides to talk with Sheehan, who says she wants Bush to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq. The president's aides note Bush already met with Sheehan, along with other relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq, last year.
Hundreds of other protesters joined Sheehan in Crawford and others held candlelight vigils across the country on Aug. 17. Sheehan, 48, left Texas the next day for California after her mother suffered a stroke and those at the site said they would continue their demonstration until she returns.
Bush travels next week to Utah and Idaho for speeches on national security and the war on terrorism. He has rejected calls for setting a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq and said last week he hasn't made a decision on increasing the force levels before the next round of Iraqi elections scheduled for December.
Members of the interim Iraqi government face are working to present a draft constitution to the parliament on Aug. 22, seven days after missing their original deadline for the document. The constitution will be the basis for electing a new government.
Bush said Iraq also represents the U.S. effort to spread democracy in the Middle East.
Approval of Bush's handling of Iraq fell to 38 percent, the lowest level ever and down from the low- to mid-40s earlier this year, according to an Aug. 1-3 Associated Press-Ipsos survey of 1,000 adults nationwide.
``Like previous wars we have waged to protect our freedom, the war on terror requires great sacrifice from Americans,'' Bush said today.
The U.S. has about 138,000 military personnel in Iraq and about 18,000 in Afghanistan.
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