Bush: 2006- A year of sacrifices in Iraq

[sonz]

Facing a mounting U.S. death toll in Iraq, the U.S. PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH is predicting a year of "more testing and sacrifice" in Iraq as he extends his campaign to improve the public's frustration over his performance and persistence to continue Iraq war.

In his speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars on Tuesday, Bush called for a responsible election-year debate on Iraq, adding that Americans should demand a discussion "that brings credit to our democracy, not comfort to our adversaries."

"There is a difference between responsible and irresponsible debate and it's even more important to conduct this debate responsibly when American troops are risking their lives overseas," Bush told the veterans organization.

“Americans know the difference between honest critics who question the way the war is being prosecuted, and partisan critics who claim that we acted in Iraq because of oil, or because of Israel, or because we misled the American people," THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT argued.

"So I ask all Americans to hold their elected leaders to account and demand a debate that brings credit to our democracy, not comfort to our adversaries."

Analysts commenting on Bush’s speech said that he was referring to the Democrats who have challenged his hidden goals behind IRAQ WAR and called for setting a timetable for a withdrawal of U.S. forces in IRAQ.

The President will address a Veterans of Foreign Wars gathering in Washington on Tuesday, another in a series that begun in December with the aim of winning the public waning support for IRAQ WAR, The Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

Earlier, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said that "2006 will be a time of more testing and sacrifice," repeating old Bush’s lies that "The terrorists and Saddam loyalists want to continue to try to derail the transition to democracy. They are fighting progress."

"We're fixing what's not working and we're adapting as necessary to complete the mission," he said.

According to an AP-Ipsos poll, only 39 percent of those surveyed last week approved of President Bush’s handling of the war, down from 41 percent in early December.

"He will talk about how in each of these areas we have learned from experience," McClellan said.

The American President will also mention a number of governments who have not yet fulfilled their financial pledges to IRAQ's reconstruction, calling on them to do so quickly, McClellan added.

"They need to be fulfilled to help the Iraqi people move forward," he claimed.

"There's been more than $13 billion pledged by the international community. There are a number of countries that have not fulfilled those commitments. And they need to be fulfilled to help the Iraqi people move forward," he said.