 | | | | | | | | | | |  |  | | | | Top Stories: Bush Says Iraq War 'Far from Over'">Archive of stories pre April 2007 | | | | | | | 
Archive of stories pre April 2007 | News submitted by: MIB
By Steve Holland -
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (Reuters) - President Bush cautioned on Wednesday against any expectation of a quick victory in Iraq, saying the war was "far from over" and the path ahead was not easy, as the potentially costly battle for Baghdad looms.
Addressing U.S. troops and their families in a hangar at the headquarters of the U.S. Central Command near Tampa, Bush said U.S.-led invasion forces were well on their way to driving the government of President Saddam Hussein from power.
"The military is making good progress in Iraq and yet the war is far from over," Bush said. "Day by day Saddam Hussein is losing his grip on Iraq. Day by day the Iraqi people are closer to freedom."
But he stopped short of declaring that the troops were "ahead of schedule" as White House spokesman Ari Fleischer had told reporters he would say, based on what Fleischer called progress on the battlefield, the troops' advance toward Baghdad and their success in engaging Iraqi units.
A senior administration official said Bush scratched the line from his speech on the Air Force One flight from Washington because "he erred on the side of being more conservative."
Bush did, however, note as a sign of progress that the invaders had moved more than 200 miles to the north toward Iraq's capital Baghdad in the last three days and that hundreds of square miles of territory were under U.S.-led control.
"We cannot predict the final day of the Iraqi regime, but I can assure you -- and I assure the long-suffering people of Iraq -- there will be a day of reckoning for the Iraqi regime, and that day is drawing near," Bush said.
The president was to meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair at Camp David on Wednesday night and Thursday to discuss the war effort, Iraq's post-war rebuilding and attempts to repair the transatlantic relationship after the bitter U.N. Security Council debate over Iraq.
Bush appeared to be trying to reverse any impression the American people might hold that a war with Iraq could be relatively brief.
'EFFECTIVE BATTLE PLAN'
"We have an effective plan of battle and the flexibility to meet every challenge," Bush said.
Some U.S. officials had predicted ahead of the war that Iraq's forces would crumble quickly like they did in the 1991 Gulf War.
Not only have they not crumbled, but the invasion forces are facing stiff resistance from Iraqi irregulars known as the Fedayeen, a militia force hardly talked about before the war.
Bush said Iraqi Republican Guard units -- Saddam's strongest units -- were now under "direct and intense" attack.
"The path we are taking is not easy and it may be long, yet we know our destination. We will stay on the path, mile-by-mile, all the way to Baghdad and all the way to victory," Bush said.
Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, a sharp critic of Bush's Iraq policy, closed ranks behind the president.
"I don't think anybody should be surprised that we are meeting resistance or that we are facing the challenges that we face. I think it's going extremely well and I'm very pleased with the report of progress we're making," he said in Washington.
The fact that Bush said Saddam was losing his grip on power suggested he and his top aides had determined Saddam had in fact survived a missile strike against him a week ago, after first believing he might have been killed.
"We cannot know the duration of this war, but we are prepared for the battle ahead," Bush told the troops.
Central Command is running the war against Iraq from a forward headquarters in Qatar.
Bush emphasized what he called the allied effort against Iraq. The administration claims 48 nations support the war, but only a few -- principally Britain and Australia -- have contributed militarily to the war.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=2453884
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