GABORONE/BAGHDAD, 11 July 2003 — US President George W. Bush yesterday admitted his government had security problems in Iraq but pledged US forces would be “tough” and stay the course after two more soldiers were reported killed there.
“There is no question we have got a security issue in Iraq,” Bush said after meeting in Gaborone with Botswanan President Festus Mogae.
“We are just going to have to deal with it person by person. We are going to have to remain tough,” said Bush, on the third leg of a five-nation African tour. He said that as more Iraqis became involved in a transition government for Iraq, they would realize that compatriots mounting attacks on occupying US forces were “apologists for Saddam Hussein” who were creating misery for their country.
“It’s going to take more than 90 to 100 days for people to recognize the great joys of freedom and the responsibilities that come with freedom,” said Bush, under mounting pressure over the use of flawed intelligence to justify the war to oust Saddam. “We are making steady progress. A free Iraq will mean a peaceful world, it is very important for us to stay the course and we will,” he added.
Bush’s remarks were in stark contrast to what was seen as a taunt to Iraqi opposition rebels earlier this month, which drew criticism from opposition Democratic Party critics. “There are some who feel that the conditions are such that they can attack us there,” Bush said on July 2 at the White House. “My answer is: Bring ‘em on. We’ve got the force necessary to deal with the security situation.”
Two US soldiers were killed and another was wounded overnight in separate attacks in Iraq, the US military said in Baghdad yesterday, correcting an earlier statement that three had been killed. The deaths brought to 31 the number of US soldiers killed in hostile action since May 1, when the United States declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq.
Bush faced mounting pressure on Iraq as he embarked earlier yesterday on a one-day trip to Botswana from South Africa. On Wednesday, he ducked questions over false intelligence on Saddam’s nuclear weapons program he had used in his State of the Union address in January.
The US-led coalition in Iraq, meanwhile, said it was mulling the creation of an indigenous paramilitary force in Iraq to help shoulder the growing security burden in the country. Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the most senior US military commander there, also said he was considering using tribal forces such as those in northern Iraq.
These could provide “significant ability” to protect infrastructure which is under relentless threat of sabotage from loyalists to Saddam and his deposed Baath Party, he added.
Iraqi citizens, particularly in the chaotic capital Baghdad, have expressed outrage at the US-led coalition’s embarrassing failure to provide a sense of security in the country in the three months since Saddam’s regime tumbled.
US and other coalition troops have come under daily hit and run assaults, as have Iraqis cooperating in efforts to rebuild, and some citizens on the streets say they are growing resentful of the occupiers.
One attack targeted a US convoy in Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit north of Baghdad at around 10:30 p.m. (1830 GMT) Wednesday, killing one soldier and wounding another, US Central Command said. In Mahmudiyah, south of the capital, another soldier was killed in an ambush with small arms fire at around 6:30 p.m. (1430 GMT) on Wednesday, the Centcom statement said.
