|
Bush to Democrats: Don't slam Iraq policy
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-11 08:41
US President Bush warned Democratic critics of his Iraq policy on Tuesday to
watch what they say or risk giving "comfort to our adversaries" and suffering at
the ballot box in November. Democrats said Bush should take his own advice.
There are still 10 months left before congressional elections in which the
president's Republican Party could lose its dominance of Capitol Hill; a recent
Associated Press-Ipsos poll found Americans prefer Democratic control over a
continued GOP majority by 49 percent to 36 percent. But Bush is wasting no time
engaging the battle. In his first speech of 2006 on the road, last week in
Chicago, he aggressively challenged Democrats on the economy.
Tuesday's equally sharp message represented an attempt by the president to
neutralize Democrats' ability to use Iraq — where violence is surging in the
wake of December parliamentary elections and messy negotiations to form a new
coalition government — as an election-year cudgel against Republicans.
US President Bush pauses during remarks about the Trafficking
Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2006
in Washington. From left are: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice, Senator Sam Brownback and
Bush.[AP] | Bush acknowledged deep differences over Iraq among casualty-weary Americans,
just 39 percent of whom approve of his handling of the war, according to
AP-Ipsos. Without specifically mentioning Democrats, the president urged
campaigning politicians to "conduct this debate responsibly."
He said he welcomed "honest critics" who question the way the war is being
conducted and the "loyal opposition" that points out what is wrong with his
administration's approach.
But he termed irresponsible the "partisan critics who claim that we acted in
Iraq because of oil or because of Israel or because we misled the American
people," as well as "defeatists who refuse to see that anything is right." With
that description, Bush lumped the many Democrats who have accused him of
twisting prewar intelligence with the few people, mostly outside the mainstream,
who have raised the issues of oil and Israel.
Bush argued that irresponsible discussion harms the morale of troops
overseas, emboldens the insurgents they are fighting and sets a bad example for
Iraqis trying to establish a democratic government.
|
