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.
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The president announced the Iraqi government will take
responsibility for national security by November so as to
"establish its authority."
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)
