World

Bush: 'We Will Not Waver' On Iraq

September 14, 2005 / 1:33 AM EDT / CBS/AP

President Bush said Tuesday that the United States will not relent in its support of Iraq's new and fragile democracy despite "acts of staggering brutality" in the country.

"I pledge we will not waver, and I appreciate your same pledge," he told Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in a news conference in the East Room of the White House. "Iraq will take its place among the world's democracies."

Talabani railed against the insurgents in his country and said U.S. forces are still needed in Iraq, despite some calls in the United States to start bringing them home.
"We will set no timetable for withdrawal. A timetable will help the terrorists," Talabani said. He said he hopes that Iraqi security forces will be ready to take responsibility for the country by the end of 2006.

"As soon as possible, of course, we hope that American troops can proudly return home," he said.

In other developments:

U.S. forces along the Euphrates River attacked the insurgent stronghold of Haditha early Tuesday, capturing a militant with ties to al Qaeda in Iraq and killing four others, the military said. The assault on Haditha followed a recent offensive to retake Tal Afar, another northern town, which U.S. commanders said netted more than 400 suspected militants. The Iraqi military said its troops had detained 36 others, including a Yemeni citizen, just south of Tal Afar.

In southern Iraq, a roadside bomb exploded near a convoy of Iraqi security guards and foreign contract workers outside Basra, killing four people, police said. While one Iraqi official said the four dead were Americans, U.S. officials were unable to confirm the report.

President Bush is balancing a harried schedule of diplomatic duties — from Iraq to China and the United Nations — while working to stay on top of hurricane recovery efforts that most Americans say should be his No. 1 priority. "I can do more than one thing at one time," the president assured Monday on the first of two planned visits this week to the Gulf Coast. He's fitting those in between meetings with world leaders who came to the United States for a gathering of the United Nations in New York. Also while speaking Tuesday, Mr. Bush claimed responsibility for the criticized response effort to Hurricane Katrina.

Turkey's Anatolia news agency reports three Turkish engineers held nearly two months in Iraq have been returned home.

Americans seem to have shifted their focus away from Iraq and terrorist threats to problems at home. For the first time since the terrorist attacks on the U.S. four years ago, a majority of Americans responding to a poll by the Pew Research Center last week said it is more important for the president to focus on domestic policy than the war on terrorism. Another poll, by Time magazine, found six in 10 Americans think the U.S. should cut back spending on Iraq to help pay for the storm response.

A huge car bomb exploded outside a popular restaurant in Baghdad's upscale Mansour neighborhood Monday night, witnesses said. Hospital officials reported at least one person was killed and 17 were wounded. A doctor at Yarmouk Hospital said most of the victims were women.

Gunmen shot and killed a bodyguard of the mayor of Mahmoudiya, a town about 20 miles south of Baghdad. The mayor was unhurt, police said.

In Kirkuk, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a police car and killed the two policemen inside. The city, 180 miles north of Baghdad, has been the scene of numerous such attacks.

Talabani's comments came as his country prepares for a referendum next month on the country's new constitution. Mr. Bush, meanwhile, is facing falling support in the polls for his policies in Iraq and at home.

President Bush also emphasized efforts to turn over security to Iraqi forces — once they are capable.

"As Iraqis stand up, America will stand down," Mr. Bush said.

Mr. Bush also renewed criticism of Iraq's neighbor Syria, which he accused of not doing enough to control the flow of fighters sneaking into Iraq.

"The Syrian leader must understand we take his lack of action seriously," he said. "The government is going to be more and more isolated."

President Bush said he would speak with U.S. allies with the aim of getting Syria to change its behavior.

The Bush administration's top envoy in Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, warned Monday that the U.S. is running out of patience with Damascus and refused to rule out a military strike against Syria or punishment through the United Nations.

On Monday, officials said the insurgent death toll in three days of fighting in Tal Afar totaled 200. Seven Iraqi soldiers and six civilians also died; the U.S. military said no American soldiers were hurt.

"Now, (the guerrillas) are just trying to save themselves by hiding in houses and communities," said Col. H.R. McMasters, commander of the American contingent from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. "The enemy no long enjoys any kind of a safe haven or a support base in the city."

"This operation was very precise. We've had access to all the terrorist safe havens," said Brig. General Muhsen Yahya, commander of the Iraqi Army's 1st Brigade in Tal Afar.

Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari flew to Tal Afar on Monday to congratulate his army, and Al-Iraqiya state television said he went despite insurgent threats "to attack the city with chemical and biological weapons."

There was no known public threat from the insurgents to use unconventional weapons in Tal Afar, but militants made two Internet postings in recent days vowing to stage chemical attacks on the Green Zone.

The Islamic Army in Iraq, which has previously claimed responsibility for kidnappings and killings of foreigners, made a bounty offer for the assassination of key Iraqi officials.

The militant group called in a Web posting for its "holy fighters to strike the infidels with an iron fist." It offered $100,000 to the killer of al-Jaafari, $50,000 for the interior minister and $30,000 for the defense minister.

More from CBS News