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| Iraq | ||
| Bush suggests Israel as model for Iraq | ||
| 2007-06-29 | ||
| President George W. Bush held up Israel as a model for defining success in Iraq, saying Thursday that the goal of the US mission in the war-ravaged Arab nation is not eliminating attacks but enabling a democracy that can function despite continuing violence. With his Iraq policies under increasing fire from the American public and lawmakers from both parties, Bush went to the US Naval War College here to declare progress. As he pleaded for patience, his top national security aide went to Capitol Hill to meet with Republican critics. Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, the senior Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, delivered a lengthy floor speech earlier this week contending that Bush's war strategy will not have time to work and that US troops should start leaving now. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley met with Lugar and others including Republican Senator John Warner. Hadley would not discuss the meetings, but Warner said a defense policy bill that is expected to attract several war-related amendments in July was a main topic. The White House thought it had until an expected September assessment by military commanders to deal with political fallout on the unpopular war. But criticism is mounting now. A majority of senators now believes that troops should start coming home within the next few months. And House Republicans are calling to revive the independent Iraq Study Group to give the nation new options.
He characterized the fight in Iraq, where tensions between Shiite and Sunni factions have kept the country in a cycle of violence, as primarily one against al-Qaida forces and their use of grisly suicide attacks and car bombings to sow chaos and despair. "They understand that sensational images are the best way to overwhelm the quiet progress on the ground," Bush said. But in some of his plainest terms yet, he laid out how to define when the US presence in Iraq has achieved its goals. "Our success in Iraq must not be measured by the enemy's ability to get a car bombing in the evening news," he said. "No matter how good the security, terrorists will always be able to explode a bomb on a crowded street." He suggested Israel as a model. There, Bush said, "Terrorists have taken innocent human life for years in suicide attacks. The difference is that Israel is a functioning democracy and it's not prevented from carrying out its responsibilities. And that's a good indicator of success that we're looking for in Iraq." It was likely to be controversial - and possibly even explosive - for Bush to set out Israel as a model for a Muslim Middle Eastern nation.
What America is aiming for in Iraq, Bush said, is "the rise of a government that can protect its people, deliver basic services for all its citizens and function as a democracy even amid violence." | ||
| Posted by:lotp |
| #7 well there are no quotes in the first para....? President George W. Bush held up Israel as a model for defining success in Iraq, saying Thursday that the goal of the US mission in the war-ravaged Arab nation is not eliminating attacks but enabling a democracy that can function despite continuing violence. Here's the one with quotes.. There, Bush said, "Terrorists have taken innocent human life for years in suicide attacks. The difference is that Israel is a functioning democracy and it's not prevented from carrying out its responsibilities. And that's a good indicator of success that we're looking for in Iraq." I guess what the Commander in Chief meant was that Iraq could live with a certain amt of violence...duh... so could any nation but what citizenry would want to. btw Mr. President we don't have a Democracy here in America, We have a Federal Constitutional Republic. I have a sad-bad feeling that President Bush never had a love of history, Our history in particular or the history of Governments or the history of Civilizations, Geography etc.. |
| Posted by: RD 2007-06-29 21:53 |
| #6 He mention anything about the nice wall they got going up over there? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-06-29 09:24 |
| #5 Or not. Maybe a Jewish Iraq would be a good thing. |
| Posted by: kelly 2007-06-29 09:23 |
| #4 "...where America has new allies in the cause of freedom." He's gotta stop with this "freedom" thing. It's of no interest to the Muslim World. Better left unsaid. |
| Posted by: Captain Lewis 2007-06-29 08:40 |
| #3 Words fail. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2007-06-29 08:17 |
| #2 A 'success vision' of Iraq would look a lot like Israel - an island of prosperity and advancement surrounded by backward, jealous neighbors intent on destroying it. Saying so is not politically wise. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-06-29 07:50 |
| #1 I suspect Dean and faculty of Yale University may secretly be considering a revocation of that "D" in Political Science and replacing it with a full blown "F" !!!! |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-06-29 04:21 |