May 24, 2007
Bush: Iraq Bill 'Reflects A Consensus' On Benchmarks
In anticipation of today's Iraq vote in the House, President Bush addressed the press for nearly an hour in the Rose Garden this morning.
He had praise for recent changes in the $120 billion war funding legislation: "We removed the arbitrary timetables for withdrawal," he said, and congratulated Congress for removing extra provisions "that some Democrats have insisted on" -- although an amendment on a minimum-wage hike is still attached to the bill and set to be debated tomorrow.
Bush praised the bill, saying it "reflects a consensus" that the Iraqis need to meet certain goals but admitting that "meeting these benchmarks will be difficult." He enumerated challenges that the nascent Iraqi government faces and warned that the country should expect more casualties during the wait for the September progress report from Gen. David Petraeus.
As for the surge plan, Bush said that troops will be in place by mid-June, and that "this summer is going to be a critical time for the new strategy." He later expressed frustration with a reporter who asked about pullout deadlines: "You're asking me how much longer. We have yet to even get all our troops in place."
Democrats dropped their demand for a timetable earlier this week; on May 1, Bush vetoed a version of the supplemental bill that included a pullout plan.
"This is a tough fight. You know, it's had an effect on the American people," Bush said. "A lot of Ameircans want to know when -- when are we going to win -- and victory will come when [Iraq] is stable enough to be able to be an ally in the war on terror, govern itself, defend itself."
He continued, "I fully recognize that there are a group of Democrats who say get out of the deal now, it's just not worth it. One of the areas where I really believe we need more of a national discussion, is what would be the consequences of failure in Iraq?" He went on to stress that the safety of both the United States and Iraq is tied to the defeat of al-Qaida.
One reporter asked Bush why Osama bin Laden is still at large. (Bush brought up newly declassified information about bin Laden yesterday at a commencement speech.)
"Why's he at large? Because we haven't got him yet, and he's hiding, and we're looking, and we're going to continue to look until we bring him to justice," Bush said, with anger evident in his voice. "He's not out there traipsing around; he's not leading any parades; he's not feeding the hungry. He's isolated -- trying to kill people to achieve his objective."
But the president also defended the U.S. military's actions in hunting down bin Laden, saying that if the al-Qaida leader had been able to secure a safe location, he could have "wreaked more havoc" in the world than he could on the run.
Bush touched on a few other issues, including sanctions against Iran and investigations into various Justice Department officials. When a reporter asked about the "cumulative picture" being drawn about the DOJ, Bush complained that "this investigation is taking a long time. Kind of being drug out, I suspect for political reasons. As I mentioned the other day, it's a grand political theater."
"If there has been wrongdoing, it will be addressed," he continued, and -- after he was prompted with the question -- said, "I've got confidence in Al Gonzales doing the job."
Bush also defended the new immigration bill which, he said, "does not grant amnesty." He slammed critics, saying that "those who are looking to find fault with this bill will always be able to find something."
Photo: Shealah Craighead
Posted at 12:32 PM
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Bush Administration, Iraq, Middle East, President Bush
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