A year after declaring major combat over in Iraq, US President George W. Bush said yesterday that US forces still face serious challenges there but that daily life is improving for Iraqis in many ways.
Bush, in his weekly radio address, sought to put the best face possible on a difficult situation in Iraq, where the US and its allies went to war over weapons of mass destruction that have never been found and are now caught in a bloody guerrilla insurgency.
"One year later, despite many challenges, life for the Iraqi people is a world away from the cruelty and corruption of Saddam's regime," Bush said, citing widely available electricity, thriving banks, schools and clinics, hospitals being renovated and an oil industry pumping out 2.5 million barrels a day.
A year ago, Bush put on a flight suit, landed on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and declared major combat operations over in Iraq in front of a "mission accomplished" banner.
A year later, parts of Iraq have descended into chaos. Since Bush declared an end to major combat, 428 US service personnel have been killed in action in Iraq, 127 of them in April alone. Fewer than 100 died in the three weeks it took to topple Saddam Hussein.
Bush said more violence is likely before the transfer of sovereignty from the coalition to an interim Iraqi government on June 30.
"On the ground in Iraq, we have serious and continuing challenges," Bush said, blaming "illegal militias and remnants of the [Saddam Hussein] regime, joined by foreign terrorists."
"American coalition forces are in place, and we are prepared to enforce order in Iraq," he said.
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