Bush Acknowledges Discontent on Iraq

President Bush waves as he arrives at the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2006, in Washington.(AP Photo/Nick Wass) (Nick Wass - AP)

Bush expressed full confidence in Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, whose resignation has been demanded by a number of critics of the Iraq war policy, including several retired generals. The president said he has asked Rumsfeld to take on "some difficult tasks," notably waging war on two fronts and transforming the U.S. military at the same time.

"And I'm satisfied of how he's done all his jobs," Bush said. "He is a smart, tough, capable administrator."

Bush said in response to a question that "the ultimate accountability rests with me" for the way the war in Iraq has been waged. "That's the ultimate. If you're asking about accountability, it rests right here. That's what the 2004 campaign was about, you know. If people are unhappy about it, look right to the president."

Congressional Democrats did just that in response to Bush's comments.

In a statement, Senate Democratic leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) charged today that "like Iraq itself," the administration's Iraq policy "is in complete disarray." Reid said, "One day, the administration calls for a timetable, the next day Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki objects to it. One day, our senior military leaders indicate more troops may be needed, the next day the president discounts that option. One day, it's stay the course, the next day it's change the course. It is increasingly clear that the president does not know what to do to stop the escalating violence in Iraq and that his so-called 'National Strategy for Victory in Iraq' has failed."

Reid added, "Not surprisingly, the American people have had enough of this administration's costly mistakes and politically motivated misstatements. They know it's long past time for the president to admit his plan is not working and to truly change course."

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) disputed several of Bush's statements, saying his Iraq policy has been "a dismal failure" but that he "is in denial" about it. While Bush has "abandoned his stay-the-course slogan," she said, he has yet to ditch his "stay-the-course policy."

"The president says that the war in Iraq is different than World War II," Pelosi said. "It sure is -- we had a plan to win World War II and we don't in Iraq."

As for Bush's warning against disillusionment, the House minority leader asked, "How could the American people not be disillusioned when the stated purpose for starting the war was wrong and so many justifications have been used for continuing it that it's impossible to keep track of them all?"

Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) said Bush's press conference "was another attempt two weeks before an election to convince the American people he has a plan for Iraq," but that he "can't sell what he doesn't have." Meanwhile, Kerry said, American troops "are paying the price for the president's pride and stubbornness."

"Iraq is in the middle of a civil war because there has been too little pressure on Iraqi politicians, not too much," Kerry said. He said Bush's guarantees "that he'll 'stay as long as it takes' have given Iraqi politicians permission to take as long as they want." He called on Bush to "change course and tell the Iraqis that no American soldier will be sacrificed because Iraqis refuse to settle their political differences."

Accusing Bush of pursuing a "stand still and lose policy in Iraq and a cut and run policy in Afghanistan," Kerry charged that Bush "has no credibility raising the specter of Iraq becoming a terrorist haven when it's the war in Iraq that our own intelligence agencies say has weakened us in the fight against terror." Kerry added, "We have to get tough on Iraq with deadlines to get Iraq and its neighbors to do the diplomacy necessary to achieve a political solution. And we need to make clear that American troops will be leaving within a year to force Iraqis to make the tough compromises."

Bush rejected such ideas today, saying, "The only way we lose in Iraq is if we leave before the job is done."

Pressed on whether the war is being won, he said, "Absolutely, we're winning."

"This notion about, you know, fixed timetable of withdrawal, in my judgment, means defeat," Bush said. He denied engaging in semantic games or contradicting himself by now promoting "benchmarks," given that Democrats have been labeled as "defeatists" for advocating a timetable in Iraq.

"There is a significant difference between benchmarks for a government to achieve and a timetable for withdrawal," he said. "As a matter of fact, the benchmarks will make it more likely we win. Withdrawing on an artificial timetable means we lose."

On domestic issues, Bush asserted that he has not given up on three major goals of his second term: Social Security reform, an overhaul of the tax code and a "comprehensive" immigration bill that would include a guest worker program.

"I've got two years left to achieve them," he said. "And I firmly believe it is more likely to achieve those three objectives with a Republican-controlled Congress and a Republican-controlled Senate. And I believe I'll be working with a Republican-controlled Congress and a Republican-controlled Senate." He went on to accuse some Democrats of "measuring the drapes" in anticipation of moving into new Capitol Hill leadership offices.

Bush said he is "enjoying it out there" on the campaign trail as he stumps for Republican candidates and defends his administration. "I like campaigning," he said. "It's what guys like me do in order to get here."