Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq 

   SOFIA, June 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President George W. Bush has refused to admit any mistakes in Iraq, but said the cause was "necessary and noble for peace," according to Bulgarian National Television on Monday.

    "I won't let politics get in the way of making important decisions to help achieve the mission," Bush said when he was interviewed by the television station before his official visit to Bulgaria shedulled on June 10.

    "You can look back on any war, and determine whether or not certain tactics could be changed, but the strategic decision, removing Saddam Hussein, was the right decision," the American president added.

    Talking about the competition with Russia, Bush said he is very optimistic and does not view Russia as an enemy.

    But he said: "The latest conflict (with Russia) is whether or not we should be working with our allies to develop a missile shield."

    Bush said the U.S. has nothing to hide and also would like to welcome Russia to join if they wish.

    "We're not trying to isolate Russia. What we're attempting to do is protect ourselves and friends and allies against a rogue regime with a missile," Bush added.

    He also noted that he does not think there's a military threat toward Bulgaria. If there were, he promised that the U.S. would help them.

    The American president also hailed the good relations between his country and Bulgaria.

    On the invitation of Bulgaria's President Georgi Parvanov, President Bush will arrive in Bulgaria on June 10. The bilateral cooperation within the frame of NATO, Iraq issues, Bulgarian nurses jailed in Libya and explanations on the deployment of anti-missile system in Central Europe are expected to be among the hottest topics for discussions. 

U.S. defense chief envisions long-term military presence in Iraq

    WASHINGTON, May 31 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that he envisions some level of American troops in Iraq for a "protracted period of time," possibly under a South Korea-like security arrangement and with the agreement of the Iraqi government.

    "What I'm thinking in terms of is a mutual agreement where some force of Americans -- mutually agreed with mutually agreed missions -- is present for a protracted period of time," Gates said in Hawaii, where he was visiting the U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii on the way to security talks in Singapore. Full story

U.S. elite forces carry out up to 12 raids in Iraq each night

    WASHINGTON, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Every night in Iraq, U.S. Special Operations forces carry out as many as a dozen raids aimed at terrorist leaders allied with al Qaeda, other insurgent fighters and militia targets, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

    Their after-action reports are the first thing that Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, reads the next day, and the missions also are closely watched by senior policy makers in Washington, who differ on whether the small number of elite units should focus on capturing and killing leaders of the group that calls itself al Qaeda in Mesopotamia and foreign fighters in Iraq, or whether the greater threat comes from the Sunni- and Shiite-based insurgency. Full story