Air Force News, news from Iraq - Air Force Times

Bush: Iraq war must be won

On the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, President Bush acknowledged dissent over the war but said the gains made and the future promise of democracy’s spread throughout the region have made the sacrifices worth the effort.

“The battle in Iraq is noble, it is necessary, and it is just,” Bush told military and civilian personnel assembled at the Pentagon auditorium Wednesday morning. “And with your courage, the battle in Iraq will end in victory.”

Bush said that the Iraq war “has been longer and harder and more costly than we anticipated.”

But, he said, “It is a fight we must win. ... By spreading the hope of liberty in the Middle East, we will help free societies take root. And when they do, freedom will yield the peace that we all desire.”

The war costs have been significant. At the 5-year mark, 3,985 U.S. troops have died during the war, according to the Pentagon, and 29,451 have been wounded. The war’s monthly cost is about $9.5 billion, the Pentagon says.

As he has previously indicated, Bush made no promises regarding continued withdrawals of U.S. troops past July, when the current drawdown of five combat brigades will be complete, and seemed to hint that more troops will not be coming home any time soon.

“Any further drawdown will be based on conditions on the ground and the recommendations of our commanders, and they must not jeopardize the hard-fought gains our troops and civilians have made over the past year,” Bush warned.

“We have learned through hard experience what happens when we pull our forces back too fast. The terrorists and extremists step in, they fill vacuums, establish safe havens and use them to spread chaos and carnage. The challenge in this period ahead is to consolidate the gains we have made and seal the extremists’ defeat.”

Bush said he recognizes the continued opposition to his decision to invade and continued U.S. presence in Iraq.

“Five years into this battle, there is an understandable debate over whether the war was worth fighting, whether the fight is worth winning, and whether we can win it,” Bush said. “The answers are clear to me. Removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision.

“Because we acted, Saddam’s regime is no longer shooting at American and British aircraft patrolling the no-fly zones and defying the will of the United Nations,” Bush said. “Because we acted, the world is better and the United States of America is safer.”

Bush said the past five years have produced moments of both triumph and tragedy.

“We’ve watched in admiration as 12 million Iraqis defied the terrorists and went to the polls and chose their leaders in free elections,” Bush said. “We watched in horror as al-Qaida beheaded innocent captives and sent suicide bombers to blow up mosques and markets.

“These actions show the brutal nature of the enemy in Iraq, and they serve as a grim reminder the terrorists who murder the innocent in the streets of Baghdad want to murder the innocent in the streets of America,” Bush said.

“Defeating this enemy in Iraq will make it less likely that we’ll face the enemy here at home.”

Bush also acknowledged the U.S. and Iraqi efforts to defeat Shiite insurgent groups, “many of them backed and financed and armed by Iran.”

The Bush remarks were a variation on those delivered Tuesday in Iraq by Vice President Dick Cheney who, as he has previously, tied the Iraq invasion to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“This long-term struggle became urgent on the morning of September 11th, 2001,” Cheney told troops at Balad Air Base. “That day we saw clearly that dangers can gather far from our own shores and find us right there at home. So the United States made a decision: To hunt down the evil of terrorism and kill it where it grows, to hold the supporters of terror to account, and to confront regimes that harbor terrorists and threaten the peace.

“Tyranny in Iraq was worth defeating. Democracy in Iraq is worth defending,” Cheney said. “All Americans can be certain: We intend to complete the mission, so that another generation of Americans doesn't have to come back here and do it again.”

The allegation of a connection between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida was dismissed in the June 2004 final report of the respected The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, which found “no evidence ... of a collaborative operational relationship.”

In his Pentagon speech, Bush lauded military and civilian personnel involved in the overall effort.

“Our men and women in uniform are performing with characteristic honor and valor,” he said. “Our troops on the front lines understand what is at stake. They know that the mission in Iraq has been difficult and has been trying for our nation because they’re the ones who have carried out most of the burdens.”

Bush also praised the military families “who love you and have supported you in this mission.”

“More than 4,400 men and women have given their lives in the war on terror,” Bush said. “We pray for their families. We’ll always honor their memory. The best way we can honor them is by making sure that their sacrifice was not in vain.”

Two of opponents of Bush’s Iraq policy took exception to his remarks.

“Today the President should have laid out a plan for reconciling the political turmoil that delays the day when our troops can redeploy out of Iraq,” said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the Senate majority leader, who said the high cost of the war is something “we can hardly afford in a looming recession.

“He should have told Americans how he plans to use his final months in office to find Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda’s senior leadership, who are not in Iraq; to win the war in Afghanistan; and to address our military’s readiness challenges that leave us unprepared for the next crisis,” Reid said.

“Instead, we again hear from the president a commitment to an endless war that has already taken nearly 4,000 American lives, wounded nearly 30,000 and made America less safe. Meanwhile, Iraqi leaders show no interest in taking responsibility for their own country and the president’s Republican allies recklessly suggest staying in Iraq for 100 years. Our military has done its job; it is long past time for this administration and Iraq’s political leaders to do theirs.”

The junior senator from Virginia, a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, agreed.

“The invasion and occupation of Iraq began five years ago today in the absence of a clearly articulated strategy that should have defined our national objectives as well as the circumstances that would bring about an end point to our military presence in that country,” said Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va. “Five years later, the American people are still waiting for the kind of political and diplomatic leadership that will end the occupation, stabilize the region, and allow our country to focus on other, vital strategic challenges around the world.

“Only when our political leadership matches the high quality of our military performance will we be able to resolve our current occupation of Iraq,” Webb said. “And it is clear that we are not going to see that kind of leadership from the Bush administration. It is imperative that our next president place great emphasis on robust diplomacy in the region to a degree that allows us to reduce our presence in Iraq and increase stability in the region.”