11 October 2006
Bush Praises Iraqi Government for Efforts To Address Violence
Dismisses study claiming 655,000 Iraqis have died in the conflict
Washington -- President Bush acknowledged during an October 11 press conference that the level of violence in Iraq is troubling, but said the Iraqi government is taking important steps to address the problem.
"The situation is difficult in Iraq, no question about it. The violence is being caused by a combination of terrorists, elements of former regime, criminals and sectarian militias. Attacks and casualties have risen during the Ramadan period," he said, noting that over the past three years, the level of violence has risen during the Muslim holy month. (See related article.)
He added, however, that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has taken three actions in recent weeks “to build confidence in his government and in the Iraqi security forces.” These include forging a national reconciliation plan aimed at bringing sectarian groups together, reaching out to the tribal leaders in al-Anbar province and dissolving a police division for its complicity with the sectarian violence. (See related article.)
The president said U.S. and Iraqi forces are taking action against extremists and those perpetrating violence in Iraq, and said al-Maliki's four-month-old government and the Iraqi legislature are making "tough decisions" to move the country’s political process forward, including the establishment of a process to address "difficult issues of federalism and constitutional reform."
Bush said he has been "troubled" and has "grieved" over the death of many innocent Iraqis, and applauded the courage of the Iraqi people. In particular, he expressed his condolences to Deputy President Tariq al-Hashimi for the recent death of his brother, as well as the loss of two other siblings earlier in the year, all victims of assassinations.
However, Bush said a new report in a British journal indicating 655,000 Iraqis had been killed was not credible. "They put it out before ... the methodology was pretty well discredited," he said.
The president repeated that the "stakes are high" for the United States and the world in Iraq.
"It is conceivable that there will be a world in which radical forms, extreme forms of religion fight each other for influence in the Middle East, in which they've got the capacity to use oil as an economic weapon," he said, also warning that they could have access to nuclear weapons.
"[Y]ou begin to see an environment that would cause some later on in history to look back and say, 'How come they couldn't see the problem? What happened to them in the year 2006? Why weren't they able to see the problems now and deal with them before it came too late?'" Bush said.
VIOLENCE AND PROGRESS CO-EXIST IN IRAQ
At a Pentagon press conference later on October 11, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Army General George Casey, top commander of coalition forces in Iraq, emphasized violence and progress co-exist in the country’s complex security environment, and that those who focus exclusively on day-to-day incidents are missing the larger picture.
Casey acknowledged the continuing challenges facing coalition forces, but also said most attacks are confined to only five of the country’s 18 provinces; 90 percent of them are staged within a 30-mile radius of Baghdad, Iraq. But other parts of the country experience so little violence that the coalition had returned security responsibilities to provincial governments. (See related article.)
By the end of 2006, Casey said, as many as seven Iraqi provinces will be transitioned back to full Iraqi control. Coalition forces also will complete the training of a new Iraqi national police force and border guard by the end of 2007, Casey said, part of helping the country’s Interior Ministry regain public trust after decades of police corruption and allegations of involvement in recent sectarian violence.
With coalition support, the ministry has established a new police reform program that will retrain the entire police force, one division at a time, to improve its effectiveness. Parallel to this effort, Casey reported that the ministry also has investigated more than 4,000 Iraqi officers for corruption and human rights abuses, dismissing more than 1,200, including some in senior leadership positions. (See related article.)
Casey also highlighted progress made by the Iraqi government in crafting a political timeline to drive agreement on the major issues that continue to divide lawmakers, including division of oil revenues, the role of federalism, and the fate of the militias, as well as the International Compact for Iraq – an international partnership to promote economic reforms and investment that will promote the country’s long-term stability and prosperity. (See related article.)
“All of these initiatives are going to take some time to come to fruition,” Casey said, “but the energy and the commitment is there.”
For additional information, see Iraq Update.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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