Bush win better for Iraq

2004-11-03 17:32

Baghdad - US President George W Bush's victory is crucial to Iraq's recovery, said US contractors and officials here, worried that challenger John Kerry would derail reconstruction efforts with the same indecisiveness critics claim has plagued his political career.

"If you listen to his rhetoric - wrong war, wrong time, wrong place," Kerry's assurances that he would resolve the situation in the country are hard to believe, said a US government employee who gave him name only as Greg.

"There's this fear we'll pull out if Kerry wins," he said on Wednesday, as Bush's campaign claimed a decisive victory in the race for the presidency but Kerry refused to concede.

"I'm sceptical about Kerry ... because of his record, the way he has flip-flopped," said another American, working inside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, where the US embassy is located.

All expected that a Bush victory would see the US campaign against insurgents ramped up as Iraq prepares for elections early next year.

But despite the likelihood of fresh violence, private contractor Tal Brannan said a second Bush term would bring much needed stability to pre-poll Iraq, paving the way for greater self-rule by Iraqis.

"It will make it more stable. The election will happen. Iraqis can govern Iraqis. I think that's what Bush wants," he said.

Two US soldiers guarding a Western hotel complained that Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq was a misguided reaction to the September 11 terror attacks in the United States, with one saying, "I thought the Afghanis were responsible for September 11. Why are we in Iraq?"

But several others, including an army officer, said America had to finish the job it began when it ousted Saddam Hussein in March 2003.

"Regardless of who's in the White House, there's a job that's got to get done," said the officer, who did not want to give his name.

"Whether it's us or the UN, we've got a duty to make sure this country does not fall into civil war," he said.

- AFP