20 December 2006
Bush Says United States Remains Clear About Its Purpose in Iraq
Welcomes moderate Iraqi coalition as a means of marginalizing extremists
Washington -- President Bush says violent sectarian extremists in Iraq have damaged national reconciliation efforts and hurt efforts to rebuild the country, but the United States remains committed to the goal of an Iraq “which can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself.”
At a December 20 news conference, Bush said 2006 was “a difficult year for our troops and the Iraqi people,” but “[w]e enter this new year clear-eyed about the challenges in Iraq, and equally clear about our purpose.”
The president said 2007 likely would require “difficult choices and additional sacrifices” but said, “I believe that we're going to win.”
“[W]e cannot ... give up on the hundreds of millions of ordinary moms and dads across the Middle East who want the hope and opportunity for their children that the terrorists and extremists seek to deny them, and that's a peaceful existence,” he said.
The president welcomed the formation of a moderate coalition in Iraq as a counterweight to the violent extremists in the country.
“[A] moderate coalition signals to the vast majority of the people of Iraq that we have a unity government, that we're willing to reconcile our differences and work together, and in so doing will marginalize those who use violence to achieve political objectives,” Bush said.
He added that moderate leaders, such as Shiite leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, are aware that the United States is “interested in defeating extremism and we're interested in helping advance a unity government.”
Overall, “success in Iraq will be success,” Bush said. “There will be a combination of military success, political success and reconstruction, and they [have] got to go hand in hand. That's why I think it's important that the moderate coalition is standing up.”
The president also said he is “very strongly in favor” of reaching an accord with U.S. trading partners and the international community on the Doha round of World Trade Organization talks designed to make free trade “universal in its application.” (See related article.)
Free trade is “the most powerful engine for development around the world. It's going to help poor nations become wealthier nations,” he said.
The transcript of the president’s press conference can be found at the White House Web site.
For more information on U.S. policy, see Iraq Update.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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