U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice(R) and U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney (L) listen as President George
W. Bush speaks during a video teleconference with Iraq provincial
reconstruction team leaders, embedded provincial reconstruction team
leaders and brigade combat commanders regarding the efforts on the ground
in Iraq in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, DC. (AFP,
File Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
WASHINGTON, July 13
(Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended on Friday Iraq war
policy worked out by the Bush administration, saying "we ought to stick" to the
policy.
"I understand people's concern. I understand people's
impatience," but "we ought to stick" to the troop buildup strategy that
President George W. Bush announced in January, Rice said in a TV interview.
She said that people should wait until September when
commanding Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker are scheduled to
deliver a new assessment of conditions in Iraq.
"Let's look at the whole picture,... We'll have a
much better view of that whole picture when Gen. Petraeus and (U.S.
Ambassador)Ryan Crocker report in September," the secretary said.
Rice said she believes letting Bush's strategy play
out "is the wisest course."
Rice, who is due to travel with Defense Secretary
Robert Gates to the Middle East in early August, also reiterated U.S. support
for Iraq's government led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, noting al-Maliki is
"a man who wants to do the right thing for his
country."
WASHINGTON, July 13 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. House of
Representatives has approved legislation that requires the Bush administration
to withdraw U.S. combat forces from Iraq by April 1, 2008, U.S. media reported
Friday.
The House voted 223-201, mostly along party lines, to
approve the measure on Thursday, and the Senate is expected to adopt a similar
measure next week in its debate on a military policy bill. Full story
WASHINGTON, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Two Republican
members of the U.S. Senate have drafted a bill that requires President George W.
Bush to narrow the American troops' mission in Iraq.
The bill, introduced on Friday by Senators John
Warner of Virginia and Richard Lugar of Indiana, would require Bush to map out a
plan by Oct. 16 this year to narrow the military's mission in Iraq, and begin
implementing it by Dec. 31. Full story
WASHINGTON, July 12 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi government
has made "satisfactory progress" toward eight targets set by the United States
and "unsatisfactory progress" toward eight other targets, and produced mixed
results in the remaining two benchmarks, according to an assessment report on
Iraq released by the White House on Thursday.
The report is the first of two reports ordered by
U.S. lawmakers as an assessment of President George W. Bush's troop-increase
strategy. The second report is due in September. Full story
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