| America is ready to suffer in Iraq indefinitely America does not intend to withdraw troops from Iraq until it “fulfills its duty.” US President George Bush announced this yesterday. He performed at the Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina. His speech, which was broadcast on major US television channels, was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the formal transfer of power to the interim Iraqi government. Let us recall that on January 30, elections were held in the country and it was replaced by a transitional government. In October, Iraq plans to adopt a constitution, hold another election, and in December to finally form the country's government.
It would seem that now is the time to publish a schedule for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. However, George Bush believes that this "would be a serious mistake" and "a mixed message" for both Iraqis and US soldiers. But the main thing is that the enemy “would have learned that he only had to wait for our departure.” However, Bush promised not to stay in Iraq “not one extra day” and not to increase the size of the American contingent. Today there are 138 thousand American soldiers in Iraq.
According to the deputy director of the Institute of the USA and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Viktor Kremenyuk, President Bush, in principle, could not name any time frame for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. “This is a risk, this is a weapon for political opponents, who will then say: you promised, take it out. Moreover, for Bush the problem is not the withdrawal of troops, but the reduction of American casualties in Iraq. If this succeeds, then the issue of troop withdrawal will be removed, because today a minority of Americans demand this,” Mr. Kremenyuk believes. According to recent polls, 53% of Americans believe the war in Iraq was a mistake, but only 13% are confident that the time has come to withdraw troops from there. During their 27 months in Iraq, more than 1,700 American soldiers have already died.
The message that the Americans may remain in Iraq indefinitely has excited Baghdad. “We want foreign troops to leave our country as soon as possible,” said Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari. “Their presence shows our inability to protect our country and our security problems.” In reality, 160 thousand soldiers of the new Iraqi army and security services are unable to either help the American contingent or contain the wave of terror. There are explosions every now and then in Iraq: if in June 2004 there were only 18, then this month there are 135.
In a half-hour speech at Fort Bragg, President Bush did not once mention the main reason for the invasion of Iraq - Saddam Hussein's alleged arsenals of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). However, he linked the Iraq campaign five times to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Iraq has become a “breeding ground for terrorism,” Bush stressed. These words caused sharp criticism in America. “Bush has invented a third excuse for the Iraq War. The first, of course, was WMD, the second was democracy. Today it is already a fight against a hotbed of terrorism. But Iraq was not a hotbed of terrorism until we got there,” Bush's former presidential rival, Democratic Senator John Kerry, said yesterday.
According to Viktor Kremenyuk, behind the words about the Iraqi threat, George Bush “simply hides a set of reasons why he should have intervened in Iraqi affairs immediately after September 11; this is the dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein, and oil, and a threat to Israel.” But the main “prize on a plate” for Washington, Mr. Kremenyuk believes, “is the greater Middle East.” According to the expert, Washington dreams of “formatting the Middle East as its own region, that is, creating conditions under which America’s friends – the Saudis, Jordanians, and Egyptians – would dominate there.”
“Working in Iraq is difficult and dangerous. And there will be difficult moments ahead that will test America's resolve, President Bush stressed yesterday. “But it’s worth it.” Before the speech, he met at the base with the families of the Americans killed in Iraq. 750 military personnel of the 82nd Airborne Division and special forces troops gathered in the hall. They listened to the president in silence and burst into applause only once - when George Bush finished his speech. Andrey ZLOBIN |
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