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In a speech billed as part of a series aimed at U.S. public opinion,
President Bush included a message for Iraqis.
"It's important for the Iraqis to hear this," said President Bush. "The
United States will not abandon Iraq. We will not leave that country to the
terrorists who attacked America, and want to attack us again. We will
leave Iraq, but when we do it will be from a position of strength, not
weakness. Americans have never retreated in the face of thugs and
assassins, and we will not begin now."
But the president devoted most of the speech in the mid-western city of
Cleveland to explaining to Americans why he is maintaining his commitment
to the effort in Iraq in spite of the low level of public support.
"I understand people being disheartened when
they turn on their TV screen and see the loss of innocent life," he said.
"So it's my job to make it clear about the connection between Iraq and the
war on terror. It's my job to remind people that progress is being made in
spite of the violence they see. It's my job to make it clear to the people
the stakes."
President Bush called Iraq "the central front in the war on terror."
President Bush's comments about the problems in Iraq came on the same
day that a leading Democratic Party senator, Joseph Biden, called on the
administration to be clearer about the situation in Iraq, and about its
plans for the future U.S. role there.
"No foreign policy can be
sustained in the United States of America without the informed consent of
the American people," said Joseph Biden. "And 'informed' means just that,
successes and failures, a realistic assessment of where we are and what
the president plans to do about it."
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has been a part of the effort to
do that. In opinion articles published in two U.S. newspapers Monday,
Secretary Rumsfeld wrote that U.S. and Iraqi forces are winning the fight
against the insurgents. He said the insurgents will not succeed in
starting a civil war in Iraq.
But Secretary Rumsfeld also echoed the president's acknowledgement of
ongoing violence and said it is slowing the progress of Iraqi democracy.
Still, he wrote that "the rationale for a free and democratic Iraq is as
compelling today as it was three years ago." And he said those who believe
the fight in Iraq is not worthwhile are not realistic, and do not
understand the historic significance of nurturing a democracy in the
middle of the Middle East.
At a news conference last week, Secretary Rumsfeld offered his criteria
for evaluating progress in Iraq.
"To properly evaluate the situation in Iraq, it seems to me we ought to
consider the following questions: Are the Iraqi people supporting their
nation's democratic transformation? Are the Iraqi forces taking on more
responsibility for the security of their country? And are the coalition
forces in Iraq helping to make our country safer?," asked Donald Rumsfeld.
He answered all of those questions "yes." Secretary Rumsfeld also
echoed the president when he wrote in one of his newspaper articles that
regarding Iraq, "now is the time for resolve, not retreat." | 
