New pressure on Bush
2005-08-05 10:57
Washington - Deadly recent attacks on American troops in Iraq are increasing the pressure on President George W Bush to develop an exit strategy. The United States death toll from the war is now over 1 820, and a new AP-Ipsos poll shows the lowest approval yet for Bush's handling of the war, just 38%.
The president's fellow Republicans are growing nervous as they head into a midterm election year.
Yet the administration also must confront the possibility that a US drawdown of troops - tentatively planned to begin next spring - could embolden the insurgents further and throw Iraq into civil war.
"We will stay the course. We will complete the job in Iraq," Bush pledged anew during a news conference on his Texas ranch with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.
Al-Qaeda warning
Bush suggested his resolve was only strengthened by a videotaped warning earlier on Thursday from al-Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri, threatening more terror attacks in Britain and tens of thousands of US military deaths if the United States doesn't withdraw.
Bush called the fallen marines a "grim reminder" that America remains at war.
The war will be a major factor in the 2006 midterm congressional races, when all 435 members of the House of Representatives and 33 senators will be up for election. It could even sway votes in the 2008 presidential race, when Bush cannot run, said Stephen Cimbala, a Pennsylvania State University political scientist who has studied the impact of wars on American politics.
Yet there has been little outward sign of progress in US-led efforts to defeat the insurgency and to augment the Iraqi army and police sufficiently to let them take over security responsibilities and allow an orderly withdrawal of American forces.
Particularly lethal bombings over the past few weeks, including a roadside bomb that killed 14 marines on Wednesday, have made the situation look even bleaker than US military experts suggest it is.
That translates into a continued erosion of public support for Bush's Iraq policy at home.
Bush has lost support most dramatically among younger women, especially those who live in the suburbs, and among less-educated men.
- AP