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Bush: War eroding '04 popularity
By Elisabeth Bumiller, The New York Times
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush said Tuesday that the war in Iraq was eroding his political capital, his starkest admission yet about the costs of the conflict to his presidency, and suggested that American forces would remain in the country until at least 2009.
In a quick remark at a White House news conference about the reserves of political strength he earned in his 2004 re-election victory - "I'd say I'm spending that capital on the war" - Bush in effect acknowledged that until he could convince increasingly skeptical Americans that the United States was winning the war, Iraq would overshadow everything he does.
Later, in response to a question about whether a day would come when there would be no more American forces in Iraq, he said that "future presidents and future governments of Iraq" would make that decision.
That statement was one of the few he has made that provides insight into his thinking about the duration of the American commitment in Iraq, and signaled that any withdrawal of troops would extend beyond his term in office.
Bush asserted that Iraq was not in a civil war, and took issue with Ayad Allawi, a former Iraqi prime minister and White House ally, who said Sunday that it was. The president also said repeatedly that he was convinced that the United States would succeed in Iraq and that he would continue to deliver that message across the country.
"I'm going to say it again, if I didn't believe we could succeed, I wouldn't be there," he said at the nearly hourlong session in the White House press briefing room. "I wouldn't put those kids there."
The president's news conference was part of a White House campaign to convince Americans that there is good news in Iraq, not only the daily bloodshed they see on television. The session with reporters was sandwiched in between a series of presidential Iraq speeches - Washington last Tuesday, Cleveland this last Monday and Wheeling, W. Va., scheduled for today - and like them, projected a tone of qualified optimism.
Bush admitted mistakes and acknowledged chaos on the ground, but emphatically asserted that the situation would improve.
"I've heard people say, 'Oh, he's just kind of optimistic for the sake of optimism,"' he told reporters. "Well, look, I believe we're going to succeed. And I understand how tough it is. Don't get me wrong. I mean, you make it abundantly clear how tough it is. I hear it from our troops. I read the reports every night. But I believe the Iraqis - this is a moment where the Iraqis had a chance to fall apart, and they didn't. And that's a positive development."
The speech tactic worked in late 2005 when another series of Iraq addresses helped to stabilize the president's poll numbers temporarily. But analysts said that with his message now familiar to the nation, it was not clear whether people were listening.
"The problem with the speeches is they get gradually more realistic, but they are still exercises in spin," said Anthony Cordesman, a military specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "They don't outline the risks. They don't create a climate where people trust what's being said."
White House officials are hopeful that the communications offensive by Bush will stop the decline that has sunk his job approval ratings to the lowest levels of his presidency, but some military analysts said they were skeptical because he no new policies in his news conference or in his speeches.
"This particular series confuses me about what it is trying to accomplish," said Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow and military specialist at the Brookings Institution. "It's been a bad winter in Iraq, but I also don't think he has enough new to say, and it's too soon after the fall speeches."
The war in Iraq bled into most questions at the news conference. Bush once again strongly endorsed Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in response to a question about whether he should step down, as some members of Congress are demanding.
"No, I don't believe he should resign," Bush said. "I think he's done a fine job of not only conducting two battles, Afghanistan and Iraq, but also transforming our military, which has been a very difficult job inside the Pentagon."
He added: "Listen, every war plan looks good on paper until you meet the enemy, not just the war plan we executed in Iraq, but the war plans that we have been executed throughout the history of warfare."
Bush's mood at the news conference alternated between relaxed and testy, although he appeared to be trying hard not to show his irritation at some reporters. In one exchange, Helen Thomas, the longtime White House correspondent and Hearst newspaper columnist, asked Bush why he really wanted to go to war with Iraq. He curtly replied that "to assume I wanted war is just flat wrong, Helen, in all due respect."
At another point, he took on a peevish tone when asked about Democratic measures in Congress to censure him for his secret surveillance program. A recent New York Times/CBS News poll shows that a majority of Americans support the program as long as they believe it is intended to protect them from terrorism.
"I did notice that nobody from the Democrat Party has actually stood up and called for getting rid of the terrorist surveillance program," Bush said. He added, in a formulation similar to his campaign speeches portraying Democrats as soft on terrorism, that "they ought to stand up and say the tools we're using to protect the American people shouldn't be used."
In the news conference, the president strongly defended his staff against calls from Republicans in Congress for new blood in the White House and complaints that the West Wing is adrift.
"These are good, hard-working, decent people," he said. "And we've dealt with a lot." He added that there was natural congressional anxiety in an election year.
"I can remember '02 before the elections, there were a certain nervousness," he said. "There was a lot of people in Congress who weren't sure I was going to make it in '04, and whether or not I'd drag the ticket down. So there's a certain unease as you head into an election year. I understand that."
Asked if he planned to bring to the White House an experienced Washington insider who could quell concerns among Republicans in Congress, Bush replied, "Well, I'm not going to announce it right now."
By Elisabeth Bumiller, The New York Times
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush said Tuesday that the war in Iraq was eroding his political capital, his starkest admission yet about the costs of the conflict to his presidency, and suggested that American forces would remain in the country until at least 2009.
In a quick remark at a White House news conference about the reserves of political strength he earned in his 2004 re-election victory - "I'd say I'm spending that capital on the war" - Bush in effect acknowledged that until he could convince increasingly skeptical Americans that the United States was winning the war, Iraq would overshadow everything he does.
Later, in response to a question about whether a day would come when there would be no more American forces in Iraq, he said that "future presidents and future governments of Iraq" would make that decision.
That statement was one of the few he has made that provides insight into his thinking about the duration of the American commitment in Iraq, and signaled that any withdrawal of troops would extend beyond his term in office.
Bush asserted that Iraq was not in a civil war, and took issue with Ayad Allawi, a former Iraqi prime minister and White House ally, who said Sunday that it was. The president also said repeatedly that he was convinced that the United States would succeed in Iraq and that he would continue to deliver that message across the country.
"I'm going to say it again, if I didn't believe we could succeed, I wouldn't be there," he said at the nearly hourlong session in the White House press briefing room. "I wouldn't put those kids there."
The president's news conference was part of a White House campaign to convince Americans that there is good news in Iraq, not only the daily bloodshed they see on television. The session with reporters was sandwiched in between a series of presidential Iraq speeches - Washington last Tuesday, Cleveland this last Monday and Wheeling, W. Va., scheduled for today - and like them, projected a tone of qualified optimism.
Bush admitted mistakes and acknowledged chaos on the ground, but emphatically asserted that the situation would improve.
"I've heard people say, 'Oh, he's just kind of optimistic for the sake of optimism,"' he told reporters. "Well, look, I believe we're going to succeed. And I understand how tough it is. Don't get me wrong. I mean, you make it abundantly clear how tough it is. I hear it from our troops. I read the reports every night. But I believe the Iraqis - this is a moment where the Iraqis had a chance to fall apart, and they didn't. And that's a positive development."
The speech tactic worked in late 2005 when another series of Iraq addresses helped to stabilize the president's poll numbers temporarily. But analysts said that with his message now familiar to the nation, it was not clear whether people were listening.
"The problem with the speeches is they get gradually more realistic, but they are still exercises in spin," said Anthony Cordesman, a military specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "They don't outline the risks. They don't create a climate where people trust what's being said."
White House officials are hopeful that the communications offensive by Bush will stop the decline that has sunk his job approval ratings to the lowest levels of his presidency, but some military analysts said they were skeptical because he no new policies in his news conference or in his speeches.
"This particular series confuses me about what it is trying to accomplish," said Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow and military specialist at the Brookings Institution. "It's been a bad winter in Iraq, but I also don't think he has enough new to say, and it's too soon after the fall speeches."
The war in Iraq bled into most questions at the news conference. Bush once again strongly endorsed Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in response to a question about whether he should step down, as some members of Congress are demanding.
"No, I don't believe he should resign," Bush said. "I think he's done a fine job of not only conducting two battles, Afghanistan and Iraq, but also transforming our military, which has been a very difficult job inside the Pentagon."
He added: "Listen, every war plan looks good on paper until you meet the enemy, not just the war plan we executed in Iraq, but the war plans that we have been executed throughout the history of warfare."
Bush's mood at the news conference alternated between relaxed and testy, although he appeared to be trying hard not to show his irritation at some reporters. In one exchange, Helen Thomas, the longtime White House correspondent and Hearst newspaper columnist, asked Bush why he really wanted to go to war with Iraq. He curtly replied that "to assume I wanted war is just flat wrong, Helen, in all due respect."
At another point, he took on a peevish tone when asked about Democratic measures in Congress to censure him for his secret surveillance program. A recent New York Times/CBS News poll shows that a majority of Americans support the program as long as they believe it is intended to protect them from terrorism.
"I did notice that nobody from the Democrat Party has actually stood up and called for getting rid of the terrorist surveillance program," Bush said. He added, in a formulation similar to his campaign speeches portraying Democrats as soft on terrorism, that "they ought to stand up and say the tools we're using to protect the American people shouldn't be used."
In the news conference, the president strongly defended his staff against calls from Republicans in Congress for new blood in the White House and complaints that the West Wing is adrift.
"These are good, hard-working, decent people," he said. "And we've dealt with a lot." He added that there was natural congressional anxiety in an election year.
"I can remember '02 before the elections, there were a certain nervousness," he said. "There was a lot of people in Congress who weren't sure I was going to make it in '04, and whether or not I'd drag the ticket down. So there's a certain unease as you head into an election year. I understand that."
Asked if he planned to bring to the White House an experienced Washington insider who could quell concerns among Republicans in Congress, Bush replied, "Well, I'm not going to announce it right now."
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