The Iraq war is entering its fifth year with US President George W. Bush pleading for patience to let his revised battle plan work and Congress' new Democratic leaders retorting that the country's patience has run out.
"The new strategy will need more time to take effect," Bush said in remarks televised from the White House on Monday to mark the four years since he ordered the invasion to overthrow late Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.
He challenged Congress to send him a bill to pay for continuing the war "without strings and without delay." He got a swift response from Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives.
"The American people have lost confidence in President Bush's plan for a war without end in Iraq," Pelosi said. "That failed approach has been rejected by the voters in our nation, and it will be rejected by the Congress."
Four years in, the war has claimed the lives of more than 3,200 members of the US military and tens of thousands of Iraqis. Original predictions of the cost and length of the war have been far surpassed. The public overwhelmingly opposes the war, and Bush's approval rating stands near its all-time low. Trying to stop spiraling sectarian bloodshed, Bush has ordered almost 30,000 more combat and support troops to Iraq, mostly to stabilize Baghdad.
"Until Baghdad's citizens feel secure in their own homes and neighborhoods," Bush said, "it will be difficult for Iraqis to make further progress toward political reconciliation or economic rebuilding, steps necessary for Iraq to build a democratic society."
From Congress, the House's Democratic vote-counter, Representative James Clyburn, said Democrats were intent on "ending the blank check for the president's war and setting a timeline for the phased redeployment of our US military."
The House will vote this week on legislation that would effectively require withdrawal of US troops from Iraq by next year, while continuing to provide this year's money for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"By August 2008 at the latest, US combat troops will be redeployed from Iraq," Clyburn said.
A new poll in Baghdad reflected the stress and hopelessness that are the result of the unrelenting violence and uncertain political situation.
The poll, conducted by ABC News, USA Today, the BBC and ARD German TV, found only 18 percent of Iraqis have confidence in US and coalition troops, 86 percent were concerned that someone in their households would be a victim of violence, and 51 percent said violence against US forces was acceptable.
There were modest anti-war demonstrations in cities from coast to coast to mark Monday's anniversary. Protesters tried to block the New York Stock Exchange and several were detained.
MONEY MATTERS: Xi was to highlight projects such as a new high-speed railway between Belgrade and Budapest, as Serbia is entirely open to Chinese trade and investment Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic yesterday said that “Taiwan is China” as he made a speech welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to Belgrade, state broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) said. “We have a clear and simple position regarding Chinese territorial integrity,” he told a crowd outside the government offices while Xi applauded him. “Yes, Taiwan is China.” Xi landed in Belgrade on Tuesday night on the second leg of his European tour, and was greeted by Vucic and most government ministers. Xi had just completed a two-day trip to France, where he held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron as the
With the midday sun blazing, an experimental orange and white F-16 fighter jet launched with a familiar roar that is a hallmark of US airpower, but the aerial combat that followed was unlike any other: This F-16 was controlled by artificial intelligence (AI), not a human pilot, and riding in the front seat was US Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall. AI marks one of the biggest advances in military aviation since the introduction of stealth in the early 1990s, and the US Air Force has aggressively leaned in. Even though the technology is not fully developed, the service is planning
INTERNATIONAL PROBE: Australian and US authorities were helping coordinate the investigation of the case, which follows the 2015 murder of Australian surfers in Mexico Three bodies were found in Mexico’s Baja California state, the FBI said on Friday, days after two Australians and an American went missing during a surfing trip in an area hit by cartel violence. Authorities used a pulley system to hoist what appeared to be lifeless bodies covered in mud from a shaft on a cliff high above the Pacific. “We confirm there were three individuals found deceased in Santo Tomas, Baja California,” a statement from the FBI’s office in San Diego, California, said without providing the identities of the victims. Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend Jack Carter
CUSTOMS DUTIES: France’s cognac industry was closely watching the talks, fearing that an anti-dumping investigation opened by China is retaliation for trade tensions French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at one of his beloved childhood haunts in the Pyrenees, seeking to press a message to Beijing not to support Russia’s war against Ukraine and to accept fairer trade. The first day of Xi’s state visit to France, his first to Europe since 2019, saw respectful, but sometimes robust exchanges between the two men during a succession of talks on Monday. Macron, joined initially by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urged Xi not to allow the export of any technology that could be used by Russia in its invasion