Bush: Iraq Costs Are 'Worth It'
With doubts about the U.S. war effort rising and his own approval ratings sinking, President Bush used a primetime speech Tuesday to appeal for the nation's patience for the "difficult and dangerous" work ahead in Iraq.
"Is the sacrifice worth it? It is worth it," Mr. Bush told a nation increasingly doubtful about the toll of the 27-month-old war.
The president spoke in an evening address to an audience of 750 soldiers and airmen at an Army base that has 9,300 troops in Iraq.
CBS News Senior White House Correspondent Bill Plante reports that the speech was a tougher, more frank version of the speech that the president gave just over a year ago. But this time he more directly linked all terrorist activity from September 11th onward to the insurgency in Iraq. He was trying to link the war against terror, which the public does not think is going well to the war in Iraq, which is public thinks is not going to well, hoping to smooth out the balance.
Mr. Bush rejected calls for a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq or sending more troops, while acknowledging that some Americans are questioning the war's painful costs.
Mr. Bush spent several hours before his speech in a private meeting to extend his condolences and thanks to the loved ones of fallen soldiers. Though he often holds such meetings when visiting military bases, the White House's decision to schedule time with 33 grieving families on the same day as the major address underscored the president's plan to offer a more somber assessment than usual of a war that has killed over 1,740 U.S. military personnel and 12,000 Iraqi civilians.
Reaction to the president's speech was positive from many soldiers and their families watching at U.S. military bases and nearby communities, who approved of what they see as a "stay the course" message from Mr. Bush. Numerous Democrats were critical, saying the speech lacked specifics, Mr. Bush's Iraq policy is "adrift." and the administration needs to lay out a plan which is both workable and likely to succeed.
"If you're going to get the kind of support the president needs at home in order to sustain this effort over the next several years, then a lot more candor is necessary. The president began that process last evening," said Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., on CBS News' The Early Show. "He needs to address this issue more frequently than he has been doing in the past and let people candidly know how this is going and what needs to be done."
"Sending more Americans would undermine our strategy of encouraging Iraqis to take the lead in this fight," Mr. Bush said. "And sending more Americans would suggest that we intend to stay forever."
On The Early Show, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said that he would send more troops to Iraq.
"But one of the big mistakes early on was that we did not have enough troops on the ground particularly after the initial victory, and that's still the case," McCain told Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith. "Over time will be solved by the training and equipping of Iraqi troops to take up these responsibilities. … We are making progress there. We must win."
The president also said Iraqis must be reassured that "America will not leave before the job is done."
At the same time, he aimed to convince skeptical Americans that his "clear path forward" to victory needs only time — not any changes — to be successful.
Mr. Bush said he knows Americans are questioning whether the heavy sacrifices in Iraq — more than 1,700 Americans dead — are worth it. "It is worth it, and it is vital to the future security of our country," he said.
He announced new steps the military is taking to prepare Iraqi security forces to take over the anti-insurgency battle: conducting operations together with Iraqi units, embedding U.S. transition teams inside Iraqi units and intensive management training inside the Iraqi Defense and Interior ministries.
"As the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down," he said.
Mr. Bush said the United States faces an enemy that has made Iraq the central front in the war on terror. Fighters have been captured from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Libya and other nations, he said.
He described the insurgents in raw terms, calling them "ruthless killers" who commit "savage acts of violence" on innocents. He said the terrorists will not shake U.S. resolve in Iraq or elsewhere.
"The only way our enemies can succeed is if we forget the lessons of Sept. 11 — if we abandon the Iraqi people to men like Zarqawi and if we yield the future of the Middle East to men like bin Laden." He referred to fugitive terror leaders Osama bin Laden, whom the United States holds responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks; and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian responsible for scores of attacks in Iraq.
"For the sake of our nation's security, this will not happen on my watch," Mr. Bush said.
The speech was a tricky balancing act for the president, believed necessary by White House advisers who have seen dozens of deadly insurgent attacks each day eat into Americans' support for the war — and for the president — and increased discomfort among even Republicans on Capitol Hill.
Polls show a majority of Americans now think the war was a mistake.
In the latest CBS News/New York Times poll, 51 percent said the U.S. should have stayed out of Iraq, versus 45 percent who said military action was the right thing to do.
Mr. Bush's approval rating has also suffered, falling to 42 percent in the CBS/NYT poll, compared to 51 percent who disapprove of the job he's doing.
Democrats and other critics said the country needed more specifics on Iraq than Mr. Bush has been giving.
"We just don't have a clue what the criteria for success is," said Democratic Rep. John Murtha, a Vietnam combat veteran. "People are still willing to give the president time if he would just level with them."