Edmonton Sun : Bush to acknowledge mistakes in Iraq: Will send more troops, money

Bush to acknowledge mistakes in Iraq: Will send more troops, money

By CP | January 10, 2007

WASHINGTON — President George W. Bush will tell Americans on Wednesday night that he will send 21,500 additional American troops to Iraq, acknowledging that it was a mistake earlier not to have more American and Iraqi troops fighting the war.

Seeking support for a retooled strategy to win support for the unpopular conflict, the president will acknowledge that the rules of engagement were flawed because certain neighbourhoods in Baghdad were put off limits by the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, White House counsellor Dan Bartlett said.

“Military operations sometimes were handcuffed by political interference by the Iraqi leadership,” he said.

Bartlett also said the Iraqis had failed to deliver on earlier pledges to commit more of their troops.

“They (the Iraqis) are going to have more boots on the ground,” he said. “They’re going to be the ones doing the knocking on the door.”

However, Al-Maliki has assured Bush the offensive in the capital will treat both Sunnis and Shiites, on whom the prime minister depends for political support, the same, Bartlett said.

Even before Bush spoke, Democrats were laying plans to register their opposition to the troop buildup. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pledged to hold a vote on the increase, trying to isolate Bush on his handling of the war.

Democratic leaders in the Senate, saying they hoped to win some Republican support, said they planned to have their chamber debate a symbolic measure next week also expressing opposition to troop increases.

A breakdown of the additional troops was provided by a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the increase has not been officially announced:

* Bush is committing 4,000 more marines to Anbar province.
* He is also committing 17,500 U.S. combat troops to Baghdad, equivalent to five combat brigades. The first brigade will arrive by next Monday. The next brigade is to arrive by Feb. 15. The reminder will arrive there in 30-day increments.
* The Iraqis are committing three brigades for Baghdad, the first to be delivered on Feb. 1. Two more will arrive Feb. 15th.

For a little over 20 minutes Wednesday night, Bush is to explain why he believes the buildup of American troops, along with other steps expected to include pumping US$1 billion into Iraq’s economy, is the answer for a more than 3 1/2-year-old war that has only got deadlier with no end in sight.

The administration plans to expand an existing program to decentralize reconstruction efforts. Ten units known as Provincial Reconstruction Teams will be expanded to 19, with the additional units based in Baghdad and in Anbar province, seats of most of the worst violence.

The teams, under State Department control, will administer some of the economic aid, including an effort to provide small loans to start or expand businesses.

Bartlett did a round of interviews on television morning shows to set the stage for the president’s address.

“A vast majority of the American people are not satisfied with the progress in Iraq,” Bartlett said. “President Bush is in their camp. He’s not satisfied, he’s going to say the strategy was not working, he’s going to tell them specifically how we’re going to fix the strategy.”

Bush will say that the infusion of additional American forces will depend on Iraq taking specific steps to curb sectarian violence and making other moves to deal with political and economic problems.

Bartlett also said that Bush will “make very clear that America’s commitment is not open-ended, that benchmarks have to be met, that milestones have to be reached both on the security side but just as importantly on the political side and the economic side. It will be unequivocal in President Bush’s speech tonight that the Iraqis have to step up.”

In his speech, Bush was to acknowledge that mistakes have been made, Bartlett added.

“The president will say very clearly tonight that there were mistakes with the earlier operations, that it did not have enough Iraqi troops or U.S. troops, that the rules of engagement — the terms in which our troops would actually conduct these operations — were flawed,” Bartlett said.

After nearly four years of fighting, $400 billion and thousands of American and Iraqi lives lost, the White House calls the president’s prime-time address from the White House library just the start of a debate over Iraq’s many problems.