Bush - U.S. role in Iraq for long term

WASHINGTON -- President Bush began preparing the American public Tuesday for a prolonged U.S. role in Iraq, citing the need for "a massive and long-term" effort to bring democracy and prosperity to the war-torn country.

In remarks during a military re-enlistment ceremony at the White House, the president went beyond previous statements in describing the scope of the rebuilding effort needed in Iraq, which both Democrats and Republicans have urged him to do.

"The rise of Iraq as an example of moderation and democracy and prosperity is a massive and long-term undertaking," Bush said, standing before several dozen service members. "And the restoration of that country is critical to the defeat of terror and radicalism throughout the Middle East."

Bush and his top advisers, including Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, have not used such strong language before to characterize the U.S.-led effort in Iraq. They have said repeatedly, for example, that U.S. troops would not stay a day longer than necessary, and that Iraqis would determine their own destiny.

Still, Bush went no further than those two sentences in laying out the scope and purpose of the nation building project in Iraq, providing no estimates of the cost, numbers of U.S. troops needed and duration of the occupation.

The president vowed that "there will be no return to tyranny in Iraq" and predicted that efforts to undermine the reconstruction of the nation would fail.

"Those who threaten the order and stability of that country will face ruin, just as surely as the regime they once served," he said. "We will stand with the Iraqi people, strongly, as they build a hopeful future. Having liberated Iraq as promised, we will help that country to found a just and representative government, as promised. Our goal is a swift transition to Iraqi control of their own affairs."

Heeding advice

Bush, in raising the prospect of a lengthy occupation, appeared to be heeding the advice of lawmakers and former officials, who urged him to begin telling the American people about the challenges ahead in Iraq.

Sen. Richard G. Lugar, R-Ind., chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said last week that "Congress, the president and people in the know really have to level with the American people. We're going to be there a long time."

And Sunday, on CBS' Face the Nation, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said he didn't think the White House was "sharing with the Congress and the American people in an open manner all the challenges that we face."

Ivo H. Daalder, a foreign policy analyst at the Brookings Institution who served in the Clinton administration, said Bush should have made Tuesday's comments in March, prior to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, rather than July. "Everybody knew it was a massive undertaking," he said.

Bush's remarks come against a backdrop of growing unrest in Iraq, where some 25 U.S. soldiers have been killed since the president declared major combat over on May 1. There have been almost daily attacks on soldiers, particularly those patrolling north of Baghdad, an area where remnants of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party still enjoy support.

In his remarks Tuesday, Bush talked about the continuing unrest in Iraq that he said comes from the Baath Party and members of Saddam's security services. And for the first time he singled out two terrorist organizations as contributing to the ongoing hostilities.

"Among these terrorists are members of the Ansar al-Islam, which operated in Iraq before the war and now is active in the Sunni heartland of the country," Bush said. "We suspect that the remnants of a group tied to al-Qaida associate (Abu Musab) al-Zarqawi are still in Iraq, waiting for an opportunity to strike."