Reply #39: Bush: Iraq enemy far from being defeated

[rodeodance]

yet, to many, the US IS the enemy!


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061214/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush

Bush: Iraq enemy far from being defeated

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer 8 minutes ago

WASHINGTON -
President Bush on Wednesday said the enemy in
Iraq is "far from being defeated," but he vowed not to be rushed into adjusting his strategy and gave little indication that he intends to veer sharply from the direction his war policies have taken.

"We're not going to give up. The stakes are too high and the consequences too grave," Bush said after meeting at the
Pentagon with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Rumsfeld's designated successor, Robert Gates.

There are competing schools of thought inside the military and the administration on whether a short-term increase in U.S. troop strength in Iraq — possibly in the range of 20,000 — would be enough to quell the sectarian warfare in Baghdad.

After a third straight day of soliciting war advice from top military and diplomatic officials, Bush gave no clue as to whether he will include that in his forthcoming plan. Some generals believe it would be too little, too late, in a war that already has claimed more than 2,900 U.S. lives.........