Bush: Iraq withdrawal a decision for future
Amid public unease, president suggests U.S. troops will stay through 2008
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11941620/
WASHINGTON - President Bush said Tuesday the decision about when to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq will fall to future presidents and Iraqi leaders, suggesting that U.S. involvement will continue at least through 2008.
Acknowledging the public’s growing unease with the war — and election-year skittishness among fellow Republicans — the president nonetheless vowed to keep U.S. soldiers in the fight.
“If I didn’t believe we could succeed, I wouldn’t be there. I wouldn’t put those kids there,” Bush declared.
He also stood by embattled Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld.
“I don’t believe he should resign. He’s done a fine job. Every war plan looks good on paper until you meet the enemy,” he said.