05 October 2005
Bush Pleased with Increasing Security Role of Iraqi Forces
White House welcomes Iraqi decision to restore constitutional referendum rules
Washington -- President Bush said Iraqi forces are demonstrating “more and more capability to take the fight to the enemy,” and praised the role of 3,000 Iraqi soldiers who have joined coalition troops in offensive operations against insurgents.
Speaking October 5 at the White House with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Lieutenant General David Petraeus, the former commander of Multinational Security and Transition Command-Iraq, Bush said he and his advisers “fully understand” that “insurgents and terrorists … intend to disrupt the constitutional process … as well as stop the progress of democracy.”
To deal with that threat, the president said U.S. and coalition troops are staying on the offensive, and he expressed his pleasure that 3,000 Iraqi forces have joined the fight and are “mak[ing] a difference on the battlefield.”
White House press secretary Scott McClellan later compared the status of Iraqi troops from one year ago, saying that in 2004 “there were less than 50 Iraqi battalions in various states of readiness” versus the approximately 88 army battalions now fighting alongside coalition forces, including 30 that are taking the lead in operations in places like Karbala, Najaf and parts of Baghdad.
In his remarks, Bush thanked Petraeus, who until recently was helping train Iraqi forces, and said that the large numbers of Iraqi recruits only was part of the success.
“We've got a quality control program in place to make sure that the troops we train are capable of taking the fight to the enemy,” Bush said. “Over 30 percent of the Iraqi troops are in the lead on these offensive operations. We've got troops embedded with them and it's important for the training mission.”
Besides progress in security, the president said the country is making progress on the political front with the drafting of Iraq’s Constitution, the upcoming October 15 national referendum on the document and subsequent elections for a permanent government, assuming the constitution is approved. (See Iraq’s Political Process.)
“[D]emocracy is moving forward in a part of the world that is so desperate for democracy and so desperate for freedom,” Bush said.
Earlier, press secretary McClellan welcomed the Iraqi National Assembly’s decision to restore the original voting rules for the referendum on the constitution, which will allow the document to be vetoed if two-thirds of voters in at least three provinces vote against it, despite majority approval nationwide.
The legislature previously had changed the interpretation of the rules to require two-thirds of registered voters in three provinces to vote against the document, regardless of the level of voter turnout.
“The Iraqi leaders found an Iraqi solution and we view it very positively,” McClellan said.
Although emphasizing that the decision was taken solely by Iraqi leaders, McClellan said the Bush administration always has encouraged Iraqis to “take steps that are consistent with international standards and the transitional administrative law.”
“[T]hey should encourage broader political participation and the vote today does that and we think that’s positive,” he said.
McClellan said later that the United States sees the draft constitution as being a “strong” document.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Iraqis are currently engaged in “a healthy political debate about their future and … what political institutions, what laws, what political documents are going to govern them.”
Encouraging the “broadest possible participation,” McCormack welcomed the participation of Sunnis and all Iraqi groups in the political process, and said an increasing number have shown their desire to participate.
“We think that that's positive. This is a young democracy. They are just getting started. And what they deserve and what they need is our support,” he said.
For additional information, see Iraq Update.
A transcript of the president’s remarks is available on the White House Web site.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
