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Violence unabating as US support for Iraq war wanes

As public support for his Iraq policy declines, US President George W. Bush is working to convince wary Americans he has a military and political strategy for success in the war in which 1,730 US troops have been killed.

In his radio address yesterday, Bush warned there is likely to be more tough fighting in months to come. And, as he did in his meeting at the White House Friday with Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Bush urged Americans to share the two leaders' confidence in a positive outcome.

"The Iraqi people are growing in optimism and hope," Bush said. "They understand that the violence is only a part of the reality in Iraq."

In the Democratic radio response, Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security adviser in the Carter administration, alleged that the war has been conducted with "tactical and strategic incompetence."

"Two years later, America finds itself more isolated than ever before, the object of unprecedented international mistrust," Brzezinski said. "As a result, we are not as safe as we should be here at home."

He said the war has turned Iraq into a training ground for terrorists and noted that Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, has not been captured. "The violence in Iraq continues at increasing rates and American casualties continue to mount," Brzezinski said.

Bush's message that Iraqis are overcoming their fears and working to defeat those opposed to an Iraqi democracy is likely to be echoed in a prime-time address he'll make Tuesday from Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The address at the home of the Army's elite 82nd Airborne Division will mark the first anniversary of the transfer of power from the US-led coalition to Iraq's interim government.

The president told radio listeners his strategy for military success is to defeat members of Saddam Hussein's former regime and foreign and Iraqi terrorists and criminals responsible for the violence.

At the same time, the US is helping train Iraqi security forces so US troops can eventually return home. Bush has turned aside calls in Congress and elsewhere for him to set a deadline for withdrawing US troops.

"The terrorists' objective is to break the will of America and of the Iraqi people before democracy can take root," Bush said.

On the political front, Bush said the US would continue helping Iraqis build a democracy. He said al-Jaafari assured him the Iraqi government would meet its deadline to draft a new constitution. By Aug. 15, Iraq's National Assembly is to unveil the draft of a constitution. A ratification referendum would follow within two months. If approved, the constitution will provide the basis for general elections by Dec. 15.

Trying to build public support and allay the concerns of Americans anxious for the war to end, Bush said, "Americans can be proud of all that we and our coalition partners have accomplished in Iraq. Our country has been tested before, and we have a long history of resolve and faith in the cause of freedom. Now we will see that cause to victory in Iraq."

Ongoing violence in Iraq has taken a political toll on Bush and has raised alarms in Congress. Just over half of Americans now say the US made a mistake going to war, and almost six in 10 say they don't approve of the way Bush has handled Iraq, according to an AP-Ipsos poll.

Friday evening, al-Jaafari told questioners at the National Press Club that the violence would not deter the establishment of an Iraqi democracy.
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