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Bush leaves gaps in Iraq policy
26/10/2006 10:57 - (SA)
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| US President George W Bush pauses during a news conference in the east room of the White House in Washington. (Gerald Herbert, AP) |
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Olivier Knox
Washington - US President George W Bush on Wednesday gave a sombre, even grim, assessment of Iraq but left gaps on how he would handle some of the most difficult issues - including a possible civil war.
At a press conference just 13 days before key US legislative elections, Bush warned Iraqi leaders that "American patience is not unlimited", but would not say what would happen if that patience ran out.
He said that Iraq's fledgling government had accepted a "schedule" for dealing with some of the most volatile issues it faces, but would not say what happens if they don't keep it.
And he promised nervous US voters that US troops won't be "taking sides in a sectarian struggle or standing in the crossfire between rival factions," but would not say what happens if Iraq slips into full-fledged civil war.
"You know I won't answer hypotheticals," he scolded one reporter, who had asked him to reconcile his opposition to withdrawing US troops "before the job is done" and his refusal to leave US troops "in the crossfire".
Withdrawal
Bush outlined plans to get Iraqi security forces on their feet, and drew a bright line between setting goals and opposition Democrats' calls for a phased US troops withdrawal from Iraq.
"As a matter of fact, the benchmarks will make it more likely we win. Withdrawing on an artificial timetable means we lose," he said.
"Our job is to prevent full-scale civil war from happening in the first place," said Bush, who pointed to the 12 million Iraqis who voted in national elections and stressed: "They didn't vote for civil war."
"And so we will work to prevent that from happening," said Bush, whose Republicans worry that the unpopular conflict in Iraq may cost them control of the House of Representatives, the Senate, or both.
Patience not unlimited
Bush declared that the United States was "pressing Iraqi leaders to take bold measures to save their country. We're making it clear that America's patience is not unlimited".
He returned to that theme in the question-and-answer session, saying that "we'll respect the fact that the Iraq government is sovereign. And they must respect the fact that we've got patience, but not unlimited patience."
Asked what would happen if that patience ran out, Bush branded the question another "hypothetical" and said: "Why don't we work to see that it doesn't run out? That's the whole objective."
"That's what positive people do. They say: We're going to put something in place and we'll work to achieve it," he said.
- AFP
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