US:US President George Bush has predicted a summer of heavy fighting in Iraq but insisted that his strategy of reinforcing US forces in Baghdad has not yet had a chance to bear fruit, writes Denis Stauntonin Washington
Speaking to reporters in the White House Rose Garden, Mr Bush said he supported a bill going through Congress this week that would fund the war in Iraq until late September but sets out political benchmarks for the Iraqi government.
"This summer is going to be a critical time for the new strategy. The last of five reinforcement brigades we are sending to Iraq is scheduled to arrive in Baghdad by mid-June. As these reinforcements carry out their missions the enemies of a free Iraq, including al-Qaeda and illegal militias, will continue to bomb and murder in an attempt to stop us. We're going to expect heavy fighting in the weeks and months. We can expect more American and Iraqi casualties. We must provide our troops with the funds and resources they need to prevail," he said.
The House of Representatives was due to vote on the war funding bill last night and although most Democrats were expected to vote against it, support from Republicans and conservative Democrats was likely to be enough to pass it.
The president had initially opposed any move by Congress to set benchmarks for the Iraqi government but he said yesterday that he agreed that the Iraqi government must show real progress in return for US support.
"These benchmarks provide both the Iraqi government and the American people with a clear road map on the way forward. Meeting these benchmarks will be difficult; it's going to be hard work for this young government. After all, the Iraqis are recovering from decades of brutal dictatorship. Their democratic government is just over a year old. And as they're making tough decisions about their future, they're under relentless attack from extremists and radicals who are trying to bring down the young democracy," he said.
Democratic congressmen yesterday sought to portray the war funding bill as a pyrrhic victory for the administration, characterising it as only one in a series of votes designed to end the war.
Wisconsin's David Obey acknowledged that the bill was far weaker than he would have liked but said it was the best Democrats could achieve in view of the need for 60 votes to avoid a filibuster in the senate.
"Opponents of the war need to face this fact, just as the president and his allies need to face the fact that they are following a dead-end policy which we will continue to make every possible effort to change," he said.
Democratic presidential contenders John Edwards, Chris Dodd and Dennis Kucinich have spoken out against the war funding bill, although Joe Biden has said he will vote in favour of it. Frontrunners Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama had not yet made their positions clear last night.
As US diplomats prepare to talk to Iranian officials about Iraq next Monday, Mr Bush said that secretary of state Condoleezza Rice would work with European governments to seek new UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear policy. "The world has spoken and said . . . no nuclear weapons programmes. And yet they're constantly ignoring the demands," he said.
Earlier yesterday, Mr Bush met Chinese vice-premier Wu Yi, expressing US concern that China may not be doing enough to allow its currency to appreciate. "That's all in the context of making it clear to China that we value our relationship, but the $233 billion trade deficit must be addressed," he said.