US President George W. Bush said on Sunday that he was pleased with the progress made by US and allied forces in the early stages of the war against Iraq, but warned against any expectation that the conflict would end quickly.
Speaking to reporters at the White House after returning from Camp David, Bush showed a flash of anger in discussing American prisoners of war who were questioned by Iraqi television, but otherwise sought to strike a tone of patience and resolve on a day that saw the fiercest clashes since the military campaign began four days ago.
"It is evident that it's going to take a while to achieve our objective, but we're on course, we're determined and we're making good progress," Bush said.
It was the first time Bush had answered reporters' questions since he announced to the world late on Wednesday night that he had begun the second war of his presidency. He sidestepped a question about Saddam Hussein's fate, pointed to the military's success in securing much of southern Iraq -- particularly the oil fields there -- and warned Turkey against using the war as a pretext for sending its troops into Kurdish areas in northern Iraq.
He pledged that within 36 hours the US would begin pouring food, medicine and other aid into areas of southern Iraq that have fallen under allied control to support his point that the aim of the war is not conquest but freeing the Iraqi people from a brutal regime.
"We've got a massive ground assault going on, and right behind it will be a massive movement of humanitarian aid," Bush said.
Bush's comments on Sunday were the third time in five days that he has emphasized that the conflict might not end quickly or painlessly. They reflected a clear concern at the White House that Bush must guard against over-optimism among Americans and the risk that prolonged fighting or televised images of dead and captured American soldiers could erode public support for the war and his leadership.
Bush's military team also tried to dampen expectations for a quick victory.
"The toughest part is yet to come," General Richard Myers, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, told ABC.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
STUMPED: KMT and TPP lawmakers approved a resolution to suspend the rate hike, which the government said was unavoidable in view of rising global energy costs The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said it has a mandate to raise electricity prices as planned after the legislature passed a non-binding resolution along partisan lines to freeze rates. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers proposed the resolution to suspend the price hike, which passed by a 59-50 vote. The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) voted with the KMT. Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) of the KMT said the resolution is a mandate for the “immediate suspension of electricity price hikes” and for the Executive Yuan to review its energy policy and propose supplementary measures. A government-organized electricity price evaluation board in March
NOVEL METHODS: The PLA has adopted new approaches and recently conducted three combat readiness drills at night which included aircraft and ships, an official said Taiwan is monitoring China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises for changes in their size or pattern as the nation prepares for president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comment at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, in response to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu’s (王定宇) questions. China continues to employ a carrot-and-stick approach, in which it applies pressure with “gray zone” tactics, while attempting to entice Taiwanese with perks, Tsai said. These actions aim to help Beijing look like it has
China is mischaracterizing UN Resolution 2758 for its own interests by conflating it with its “one China” principle, US Deputy Assistant Secretary for China and Taiwan Mark Lambert said on Monday. Speaking at a seminar held by the German Marshall Fund, Lambert called for support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the international community at a time when China is increasingly misusing Resolution 2758. The resolution had a clear impact when it changed who occupied the China seat at the UN, Lambert said. “Today, however, the PRC [People’s Republic of China] increasingly mischaracterizes and misuses Resolution 2758 to serve its own interests,” Lambert said. “Beijing