Bush Urges Patience Amid Iraq Violence
President Starts New Push To Build Support For His Policies
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Play CBS Video Video Bush Begins Iraq PR Blitz President Bush began a new campaign to build support for the war in Iraq when he spoke at George Washington University. Jim Axelrod has more.
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Video Bush Starts Speech Run On Iraq President Bush kicked off a series of speeches on the war in Iraq. As Claudia Coffey reports, the effort to rally support comes as the violence in Iraq reaches new levels.
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Video Iraq Teetering On The Edge? Bob Schieffer spoke to Chief Foreign Correspondent Lara Logan about the situation in Iraq, where extremists on both sides are pushing the country closer to civil war.
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President Bush delivers his remarks on the global war on terror to The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies at George Washington University on Monday, March 13, 2006, in Washington. (AP)
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Interactive Bush Presidency The president's agenda, plus facts, figures, major events and key personalities.
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Interactive Battle For Iraq The government, the insurgency, key players, background and photos.
Mr. Bush acknowledged that the Iraqi police lag behind the army in training and capabilities and that those police units are disproportionately Shiite. But he said commanders are working to fix those problems this year.
The president said the upheaval in the country is being perpetrated by a violent minority. He said most Iraqis want to live in peace and freedom, and they will get it with U.S. help.
CBS News correspondent Lara Logan reports that extremists on both sides are pushing Iraqis toward outright civil war, and with no government in Iraq, there is little hope for peace and politics to win over violence and bloodshed.
Mr. Bush also touted efforts to fight the enemy's use of improvised explosive devices, which are bombs that can be hidden and detonated remotely.
He said a newspaper published details of a new anti-IED technology that gave away secrets to the enemy, allowing them to distribute instructions to defeat the technology.
The president's aides said he was referring to a Feb. 12 report in The Los Angeles Times that raised questions about whether Pentagon bureaucracy was keeping a new high-tech vehicle that destroys the bombs from being used in battle.
Leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee met Monday with the head of the military's task force studying the bombs, Ret. Gen. Montgomery Meigs, who said there is "no silver bullet" to stopping the devices.
"I'd say the enemy is coming up with more lethal combinations and we're being able to hold his effectiveness down to an unacceptably low level, but we're making progress in that area," Meigs told reporters after the meeting.
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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