By Dana Milbank and Mike Allen
Friday, November 7, 2003; Page A01
President Bush said yesterday that the United States must commit itself to a decades-long transformation of the Middle East and termed the U.S. occupation of Iraq a turning point in the future of worldwide democracy.
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Bush's speech was the latest effort by the administration to stop the slipping support for the U.S. occupation of Iraq at home and abroad. Though he had previously mentioned the spread of Mideast democracy as a justification for the invasion of Iraq, Bush elevated that rationale to primacy yesterday, making no mention of weapons of mass destruction and only passing reference to national security and terrorism.
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A senior administration official familiar with the speech's preparation said the purpose was to "elevate the president's foreign policy to a moral cause, and remind people why they're fighting." The official said such a discussion "takes the whole thing out of troop levels and border patrols," subjects that have been vexing for the administration during the deadly Iraqi insurgency that has claimed the lives of 140 U.S. troops since Bush declared major combat over on May 1.
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Though Bush spoke of a "willingness to sacrifice," a CNN-USA Today-Gallup Poll released yesterday showed that 54 percent of respondents disapproved of Bush's Iraq policies, up from 41 percent in August.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10003-2003Nov6.html