Bush Highlights New Turning Point in Iraq

WASHINGTON -- Three years after delivering his "mission accomplished" speech on Iraq, President Bush on Monday declared another turning point had arrived with the establishment of a permanent government in Baghdad.

"We believe we've got partners to help the Iraqi people realize their dreams," Bush said of the recent emergence of new Iraqi leadership. "They need to know that we stand with them."

The president's May 1, 2003, appearance on the USS Abraham Lincoln is one of his most indelible war-related images.

Clad in a flight suit, he emerged dramatically from a Navy jet that screamed in for a landing on the carrier's deck. Under a giant "Mission Accomplished" banner, Bush announced that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended."

Though he was careful not to declare overall victory and warned of difficult work ahead, the speech was congratulatory in tone and aimed at marking a pivot from invasion to reconstruction.

"In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed," Bush said then. "The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on Sept. 11, 2001, and still goes on. ... We do not know the day of final victory, but we have seen the turning of the tide."

U.S. troops were trading fire with Iraqis almost daily, basic services were in a shambles and neither ousted leader Saddam Hussein nor weapons of mass destruction had been located. But the day seemed brilliantly staged. Detractors dreaded what they thought was inevitable _ seeing the images of Bush jubilantly greeting homeward-bound sailors resurface in the president's 2004 re-election campaign and reinforce his wartime popularity.

It didn't turn out that way.

Violence in Iraq continued instead of ebbed. In the six weeks from the start of the invasion to Bush's speech, 139 U.S. soldiers had died. In the three years since, as of Sunday, there have been another 2,258 U.S. military deaths in Iraq _ an average of 63 each month.

There have been three democratic elections with voter participation increasing each time. But it took four months of infighting to produce a slate of government leaders _ expected to be finalized this month _ representing all of Iraq's major ethnic and political factions in a fragile unity. Also, reliable electrical power is scarce, petty corruption is rampant and the government's Interior ministry is blamed for harboring death squads that are helping to drive sectarian violence.

In a frank assessment, the No. 2 U.S. intelligence official, Gen. Michael Hayden, said last week that the war in Iraq currently inspires jihadists, but their failure there would weaken the movement globally. The U.S., he said, must not forget the importance of Iraq.

"The conflict there and _ more importantly _ how it is routinely portrayed in Islamic media continues to cultivate supporters for the global jihadist movement," Hayden told an audience in Texas during a little-noticed speech.