The war's new future:
Bush sends more troops to Iraq
Dan Rosenthal
Issue date: 1/25/07 Section: News
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On Jan. 10, President George W. Bush announced, in his Address to the Nation, his intention to deploy more than 20,000 additional troops into Iraq in order to quell the violence between Sunni insurgents and Shia radicals and eliminate the threat of Al Qaeda in Iraq.
"Our troops in Iraq have fought bravely. They have done everything we have asked them to do. Where mistakes have been made the responsibility rests with me," said Bush, accepting the blame for our military's recent failure at securing the Iraqi capital.
Five brigades out of the more than 20,000 soldiers destined for service in Iraq will be stationed within Baghdad. "The most urgent priority for success in Iraq is security, especially in Baghdad," said Bush. "Eighty percent of Iraq's sectarian violence occurs within 30 miles of the capital."
The sectarian violence Bush spoke of refers to the ongoing conflict between Sunni Muslim insurgents and the Shia Muslims who have chosen to fight back. The push to fight has come from many recent acts of terrorism on the part of the Sunni extremists. One of the most recent of these terrorist attacks was the blowing up of the Golden Mosque of Samarra, one of the holiest Shia shrines.
Additional threats come from the large presence of Al Qaeda fighters in the Anbar Province, which is recognized as the most dangerous area in Iraq outside of Baghdad. Anbar is the home of the current Al Qaeda home base and will be the future, albeit temporary, home of 4,000 American soldiers. "America's men and women in uniform took away Al Qaeda's safe haven in Afghanistan - and we will not allow them to reestablish it in Iraq," said Bush.
"The consequences of failure are clear: Radical Islamic extremists would grow in strength and gain new recruits. They would be in a better position to topple moderate governments, create chaos in the region, and use oil revenues to fund their ambitions. Iran would be emboldened in its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Our enemies would have a safe haven from which to plan and launch attacks on the American people," said Bush.
"Our troops in Iraq have fought bravely. They have done everything we have asked them to do. Where mistakes have been made the responsibility rests with me," said Bush, accepting the blame for our military's recent failure at securing the Iraqi capital.
Five brigades out of the more than 20,000 soldiers destined for service in Iraq will be stationed within Baghdad. "The most urgent priority for success in Iraq is security, especially in Baghdad," said Bush. "Eighty percent of Iraq's sectarian violence occurs within 30 miles of the capital."
The sectarian violence Bush spoke of refers to the ongoing conflict between Sunni Muslim insurgents and the Shia Muslims who have chosen to fight back. The push to fight has come from many recent acts of terrorism on the part of the Sunni extremists. One of the most recent of these terrorist attacks was the blowing up of the Golden Mosque of Samarra, one of the holiest Shia shrines.
Additional threats come from the large presence of Al Qaeda fighters in the Anbar Province, which is recognized as the most dangerous area in Iraq outside of Baghdad. Anbar is the home of the current Al Qaeda home base and will be the future, albeit temporary, home of 4,000 American soldiers. "America's men and women in uniform took away Al Qaeda's safe haven in Afghanistan - and we will not allow them to reestablish it in Iraq," said Bush.
"The consequences of failure are clear: Radical Islamic extremists would grow in strength and gain new recruits. They would be in a better position to topple moderate governments, create chaos in the region, and use oil revenues to fund their ambitions. Iran would be emboldened in its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Our enemies would have a safe haven from which to plan and launch attacks on the American people," said Bush.
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