Bush: U.S. troops will remain in Iraq [View All]

[maddezmom]

edited as AP changed headline:

By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer

AMMAN, Jordan - President Bush pledged Thursday that U.S. troops will remain in Iraq to strengthen the authority of embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and said the two agreed to speed a turnover of security responsibility to Iraqi forces.

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"One of his frustrations with me is that he believes that we've been slow about giving him the tools necessary to protect the Iraqi people," Bush said. "Today we had a meeting that will accelerate the capacity for the prime minister to do the hard work necessary to help stop this violence."

The two also agreed in high-stakes talks here Thursday that Iraq should not be partitioned into separate, semiautonomous zones.

"The prime minister made clear that splitting his country into parts, as some have suggested, is not what the Iraqi people want, and that any partition of Iraq would only lead to an increase in sectarian violence," Bush said after he and the Iraqi prime minister met for nearly two and a half hours.
~snip~
more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061130/ap_on_re_mi_ea/bush

original:
AMMAN, Jordan - President Bush said Thursday that he and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki agreed in high-stakes talks that Iraq should not be partitioned into separate, semiautonomous zones.

"The prime minster made clear that splitting his country into parts, as some have suggested, is not what the Iraqi people want, and that any partition of Iraq would only lead to an increase in sectarian violence," Bush said after nearly two and a half hours of talks aimed at stabilizing Iraq. "I agree."

Al-Maliki left the door open for countries like Iran and Syria to play a part in Iraq's struggle for peace.

"We are ready to cooperate with everybody who believes that the need to cooperate with the national unity government, especially our neighbors," al-Maliki said.

He said that "Iraq is for Iraqis and its borders will be sound."

more;http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061130/ap_on_re_mi_ea/bush


Bush Says Maliki Government Is Critical to Success in Iraq
Catherine Dodge and Roger Runningen
30 minutes ago

Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. President George W. Bush said he and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki agreed to speed the training of Iraqi security forces and that the U.S. is ready to make changes to support the Iraqi regime.

``The success of Prime Minister Maliki's government is critical to the success in Iraq,'' Bush said today at a news conference with Maliki in Amman, Jordan. ``I told the prime minister that our goal in Iraq is to strengthen his government.''

Bush's remarks followed a morning meeting with Maliki that was intended to draw out the Iraqi prime minister's plans to try to stem rising sectarian violence and speed the transfer of security responsibilities to Iraqi forces from U.S. troops.

The meeting occurred against a backdrop of attacks and reprisals by sectarian factions in Iraq and domestic pressure on the president to begin lessening U.S. involvement in Iraq. Maliki is facing his own political pressures. The parliamentary bloc led by Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr announced yesterday it's suspending its participation in the government to protest Maliki's meeting with Bush.

more;http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20061130/pl_bloomberg/awumdew9gjy_1