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| New Iraq Strategy - 20,000 Strong Troop Increase |
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US President George W. Bush said Wednesday night that he had ordered more than 20,000 additional American troops to Iraq, as part of his new strategy. In a prime-time televised speech, Bush said past US efforts to secure the Iraqi capital of Baghdad failed for two major reasons: not enough Iraqi and American troops to secure neighborhoods cleared of terrorists and insurgents, and too many restrictions on US troops deployed in the war-torn country. The United States would change its strategy to help the Iraqis carry out their campaign to put down sectarian violence and bring security to the people of Baghdad, and that would require increasing American force levels, he said. The vast majority of the additional troops -- five brigades -- would be deployed to Baghdad, with around 4,000 others to be sent to Iraq's western Anbar Province, said Bush. These US troops would have a well-defined mission -- to help Iraqis clear and secure neighborhoods, to aid in protecting the local population, and ensuring that the Iraqi forces left behind are capable of providing the security that Baghdad needed, he said. Iraq would pass legislation to share oil revenues among all Iraqis, and the Iraqi government would spend US$10 billion of its own money in reconstruction and infrastructure projects that would also serve in creating jobs, he said. Bush said that Iraq plans to hold provincial elections later this year, and that the Iraqi government would reform de-Baathification laws and establish a fair process for amendments to Iraq's constitution, allowing more Iraqis to re-enter their nation's political life. The US government would change its approach in assisting the Iraqi government as these benchmarks are met, he said. Bush noted the United States would increase the embedding of American advisers in Iraqi Army units and partner a coalition brigade for every Iraqi Army division, one of the many recommendations by the Iraq Study Group that reviewed the administration's Iraq policy. The Untied States will shoulder the Iraqis in building a larger and better-equipped Army, and accelerate the training of Iraqi forces, which remains the essential US security mission in Iraq, he said. Bush also said "The situation in Iraq is unacceptable to the American people and it is unacceptable to me," "Our troops in Iraq have fought bravely. They have done everything we have asked them to do. Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me," he added. The president said failure in Iraq would spell disaster for the United States. "The consequences of failure are clear: radical Islamic extremists would grow in strength and gain new recruits. They would be in a better position to topple moderate governments, create chaos in the region and use oil revenues to fund their ambitions," Bush said. The president said if the United States failed in Iraq, "Iran would be emboldened in its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Our enemies would have a safe haven from which to plan and launch attacks on the American people." The most urgent priority for success in Iraq, he said, was security, particularly in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital. According to Bush, 80 percent of Iraq's sectarian violence occurred within 48 km of the capital, with violence " splitting Baghdad into sectarian enclaves and shaking the confidence of all Iraqis. "Only the Iraqis can end the sectarian violence and secure their people. And their government has put forward an aggressive plan to do it," he said. (Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2007) |
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