WASHINGTON/BAGHDAD (REUTERS) — President Bush vowed Sunday that the United States will “do whatever is necessary” to bring peace to Iraq and challenged other countries to help share the burden of quelling resistance and paying to rebuild the country.
In a televised address to the nation, the president, whose conduct of the Iraqi occupation has come under fire amid mounting U.S. casualties and a growing price tag, pledged to stay the course in Iraq and called on the U.S. Congress to provide $87 billion in emergency funds.
Bush sought help from the United Nations, saying member countries “now have an opportunity, and the responsibility, to assume a broader role in assuring that Iraq becomes a free and democratic nation.”
Washington wants the U.N. Security Council to authorize a multinational force for Iraq and Bush said past differences within the United Nations must not block deployment of more troops from other countries. Antiwar powers France, Germany and Russia are balking because of the lack of U.N. control.
In an 18-minute speech, Bush said Iraq had become the central front in a war against global terrorism, and that defeating the “enemies of freedom” would take time and require sacrifices.
“Yet we will do whatever is necessary, we will spend what is necessary, to achieve this central victory in the war on terror, to promote freedom and to make our nation more secure,” he said.
The problems in Iraq have hit Bush’s poll ratings as the president heads into his 2004 re-election campaign and the speech, days ahead of the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, was aimed at reassuring Americans about strategy in Iraq.
Britain takes symbolic lead on troops
With most nations wary of sending troops to Iraq under U.S. leadership, it was left to Washington’s most faithful ally, London, once again to take a symbolic lead.
Only 120 soldiers flew in from Cyprus Saturday to British-controlled southern Iraq, but the government of Prime Minister Tony Blair is considering sending up to 3,000 more troops to swell its 11,000-strong contingent.
The dangers of occupying Iraq were highlighted again during the weekend when guerrillas fired several missiles at a U.S. transport plane taking off from Baghdad but failed to hit it.
The incident, confirmed Sunday by the military, took place hours before Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld flew out of Baghdad Saturday. It was the third such attack since May 1, when Washington said major combat in Iraq was over.
Bush, whose forces have been unable to find Saddam Hussein or the weapons of mass destruction cited as justification for invading Iraq, said some of the attackers are “foreign terrorists who have come to Iraq to pursue their war on America and other free nations.”
The United States, which has some 130,000 troops in Iraq, wants other nations to send up to 15,000 soldiers, on top of the 9,000 already in Iraq alongside U.S. and British forces.
Washington has proposed a draft U.N. resolution to mandate a larger multinational force to occupy Iraq.
On NBC television’s “Meet the Press,” Secretary of State Colin Powell said: “We are not expecting this new resolution to cause a large number of additional troops to be added from the international community. I would guess that perhaps there are 10,000 to 15,000 more who might be made available.
“What we’re really interested in in this resolution … is to get the international community to come together and participate in the political reconstruction of Iraq.”
Bush called on Europe, Japan and Middle East states to contribute to reconstruction efforts at a funding conference next month.
