The Hindu : Bush hints at change in tactics in Iraq

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 30, 2003

International

International

Bush hints at change in tactics in Iraq

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington Oct. 29. The U.S. President, George W Bush, has ruled out the United States leaving Iraq but has said that tactics will be changed.

Reacting to sharp and pointed criticism of the U.S. policies there against the backdrop of escalating violence, Mr. Bush, at a press conference, insisted that America would not be intimidated.

"We're constantly looking at the enemy and adjusting. Iraq is dangerous and it is dangerous because terrorists want us to leave and we are not leaving," he said. Iraq is "a central front" in the war against terror which was why the U.S. had to be "tough, strong and diligent".

Mr. Bush fielded questions on many issues but mostly Iraq amid a rash of suicide attacks that had killed at least three dozen persons; and the critics of the administration are saying that Washington had failed to anticipate this rising violence and was somehow content in pursuing its failed policies. The blistering attack came from the Democratic Presidential candidate, Howard Dean, currently the front-runner.

Mr. Dean argued that Mr. Bush "seems content to pursue the current flawed plan, unwilling to do what is necessary to encourage our friends and allies to assist, incapable of taking the steps necessary to expedite the transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqis and content to direct billions of dollars to special interests like the Halliburton".

Mr. Bush brushed aside the mounting criticism in his usual way saying that Americans were able to distinguish between "politics and reality". "As a matter of fact...the electorate is a heck of a lot smarter than most politicians."

There is no doubt that the White House is stepping up its public relations offensive in the context of the spurt in the violence and also in the general conviction in the political environment here that Iraq will be a major factor in the Presidential election about a year away.

Mr. Bush defended his foreign policy saying that during the course of the political campaigning he will be telling the American people that the "world is more peaceful and more free under my leadership and America is more secure".

Mr. Bush was not specific of who may be responsible for the recent attacks in Iraq maintaining that it was "probably both Ba'athists and foreign terrorists" and stressed that commanders on the ground will have to decide if the tactics should be changed to meet the present situation "We have the right strategy" he remarked.

Iftar dinner

Later welcoming American Muslim leaders and envoys from Muslim nations for an Iftar dinner, Mr. Bush said that America would continue to support Iraq and Afghanistan as they build a future and "we will not allow criminals and terrorists to stop the advance of freedom. Terrorists who use religion to justify the taking of innocent life have no home in any faith".

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