Bush: 'We are winning'

2005-12-19 07:50

Washington - US President George W Bush warned on Sunday that victory in Iraq would require more sacrifices in the coming year but urged a divided US public not to give in to "defeatism," declaring: "We are winning."

"Defeatism may have its partisan uses, but it is not justified by the facts," he said in his first Oval Office speech since the March 2003 invasion. "Not only can we win the war in Iraq, we are winning the war in Iraq."

Bush predicted progress over the coming year in training Iraq's fledgling security forces and fighting corruption and said that "as these achievements come, it should require fewer American troops to accomplish our mission."

'Have patience'

"Tonight, I ask all of you listening to carefully consider the stakes of this war, to realise how far we have come and the good we are doing, and to have patience in this difficult, noble, and necessary cause," he said.

Bush acknowledged a series of mistakes, starting with the failure to find the weapons of mass destruction at the core of his case for war, but said it was wrong to question whether the conflict was worth it.

"Some look at the challenges in Iraq, and conclude that the war is lost, and not worth another dime or another day. I dont believe that," he said. "This proves that the war is difficult, it does not mean that we are losing."

Billions of dollars

2 150 US troops have been killed between the invasion and Thursday's historical parliamentary elections in Iraq, and the cost has run in the billions of dollars.

"This election will not mean the end of violence. But it is the beginning of something new: constitutional democracy at the heart of the Middle East," said the US president.

"And this vote, 6 000 miles away, in a vital region of the world, means that America has an ally of growing strength in the fight against terror," said Bush.

- AFP