Bush: Iraq war is not over, more work ahead

Monday, December 15, 2008 at 10:12 am

His legacy forever linked to an unpopular war, U.S. President George W. Bush flew under intense security to Iraq today (Dec 14) where he called the nearly six-year conflict hard but necessary to protect the United States and give Iraqis hope. “The war is not over,” he declared.

Bush got a size-10 reminder of the intense opposition to his policies when a man threw two shoes at him–one after another–during a news conference with Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

“This is the end!” shouted the man, later identified as Muntadar al-Zeidi, a correspondent for Al-Baghdadiya television, an Iraqi-owned station based in Cairo, Egypt.

Bush ducked both throws. Neither leader was hit. “All I can report is a size 10,” the president joked. Bush visited the Iraqi capital just 37 days before he hands the war off to President-elect Barack Obama, who has pledged to end it.

The President wanted to highlight a drop in violence in a nation still riven by ethnic strife and to celebrate a recent U.S.-Iraq security agreement, which calls for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011.

“There is still more work to be done,” Bush said after his meeting with al-Maliki, adding that the agreement puts Iraq on solid footing. “The war is not over.”

In many ways, the unannounced trip was a victory lap without a clear victory. Nearly 150,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq fighting a war that is intensely disliked across the globe. More than 4,209 members of the U.S. military have died in the conflict, which has cost U.S. taxpayers $576 billion since it began five years and nine months ago.

(Agencies)

( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)

Bush: Iraq war is not over, more work ahead

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