[Mb-civic] CBC News - BUSH WARNS U.S. SOLDIERS 'YOUR WORK ISN'T OVER' IN IRAQ

Tue Apr 12 17:21:10 PDT 2005

This email has been sent to you by harry.sifton at sympatico.ca
The following is a news item posted on CBC NEWS ONLINE
at http://www.cbc.ca/news
____________________________________________________
BUSH WARNS U.S. SOLDIERS 'YOUR WORK ISN'T OVER' IN IRAQ
WebPosted Tue Apr 12 18:27:47 2005

FORT HOOD, TEXAS---U.S. President George W. Bush marked the second
anniversary of the fall of Baghdad on Tuesday, by calling it one of
history's great moments.

"The toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad will be recorded,
alongside the fall of the Berlin Wall, as one of the great moments in the
history of liberty," he said.

But while the president was lauding his forces' achievements in Iraq, the
U.S. secretary of defence was in Baghdad warning Iraq's new political
leaders of the potential for failure.

Bush made his speech at Fort Hood, Texas, the largest army base in
the country.

Units stationed there have suffered some of the highest casualties in
Iraq.

        The soldiers welcomed Bush with hoots and chants.

        "Whether you're coming or going you are making an enormous
        difference for the security of our nation and for the peace of
        the world," Bush told them.

Bush praised them, thanked them and their families, and said they'd been
part of one of the great moments in the history of liberty. One in ten
of the U.S. soldiers killed and wounded in Iraq have been deployed from
Fort Hood.

As Bush spoke they listened and cheered until he turned to Iraq's reality
today. "There's a lot of work ahead. The Iraqi people face brutal and
determined enemies," he said.

        "In the last two years, you have accomplished much, yet your work
        isn't over. Freedom still faces dangerous adversaries. Terrorists
        still want to attack our people.

"But they're losing. These terrorists are losing the struggle because
they're under constant pressure from our armed forces, and they will
remain under constant pressure from our armed forces," he said.

The crowd fell silent. So many of them have walked dangerous streets with
Iraq's emerging but still weak security forces that the president's words
of reassurance seemed to fall flat.

        "Security operations are entering a new phase. Iraq's security
        forces are becoming more self-reliant and taking on greater
        responsibilities."

Bush went on to talk of his confidence in Iraq's new but still only partly-
formed government, while in Baghdad, Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld
was giving that very same government a fistful of warnings.

"Our goal is to be able to transfer full responsibility to the Iraqi
Security Forces as soon as they are capable of taking over that
responsibility, at which point obviously the coalition forces would be
able to reduce their presence in the country which is the goal of the
coalition countries."

Rumsfeld told the country's freshman leaders it was time to hurry up; to
put aside sectarian differences, form a full government and get on with
the business of writing a constitution before the insurgency reignites.

While Bush tried to reassure a weary U.S. military, Rumsfeld's visit to
Baghdad seemed to signal Washington's growing frustration and impatience
with Iraq's new leaders.