Bush: Iraqi Troops Not Ready to Take Over

[leftchick]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/bush

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"I certainly don't expect the process to be trouble-free," Bush said as he addressed next year's agenda ranging from overhauling Social Security (news - web sites) to the Jan. 30 elections in Iraq (news - web sites).

In the 17th news conference of his presidency, Bush accused insurgents there of trying to "disrupt the democratic process" and urged the American people to remain patient well beyond the lections.


"The elections in January are the beginning of a process and it is important for the American people to understand that," he said.

He said "I would call the results mixed" on a U.S. effort to put Iraqi security in the hands of its own people.

"When the heat got on, they left the battlefield — that is unacceptable," he said.