US: Seeking to reassure America's voters that his Iraq policy is working, US President George Bush hosted Iraqi Prime Minister Mr Iyad Allawi at a high-profile appearance at the White House yesterday, and declared: "Freedom is winning", writes Conor O'Clery in New York
Iraq "is a central part in the war on terror, and I believe that when we succeed in Iraq, that America will be more secure," said Mr Bush.
"The enemies of freedom are using suicide bombing, beheadings, and other horrific acts to try to block progress. We're sickened by the atrocities, but we'll never be intimidated. And freedom is winning."
Mr Bush used the occasion to reply to a blistering attack this week on his Iraq policy from Mr John Kerry, who said that because of miscalculations Mr Bush had replaced Saddam Hussein with chaos.
"It's a preposterous claim to say that the world would be better off with Saddam Hussein in power," he said, as he and the Iraqi prime minister portrayed the Gulf country as being well on the road to stability and democracy.
The Democratic challenger responded that "the prime minister and the president are here obviously to put their best face on the policy, but the fact is that the CIA estimates, the reporting, the ground operations and the troops all tell a different story." A majority of Americans - 52 to 42 per cent - now believe that removing Saddam Hussein was not worth the cost in lives and finance, according to a new Wall Street Journal-ABC poll yesterday.
Mr Bush shrugged off polls in Iraq that suggest most Iraqis see Americans as occupiers and not liberators. "I saw a poll that said the right track-wrong track in Iraq was better than here in America," he told reporters. "It was pretty darn strong. I mean, the people see a better future."
Challenged by a reporter that many Americans might not believe him when he said the US was safer today, Mr Bush replied that if the US stopped fighting terrorists in Iraq, they could "plot and plan attacks elsewhere, in America and other free nations."
However he conceded that "remnants of the old regime and terrorist groups" wanted to prevent Iraq's elections and "I believe terrorist violence may well escalate." But "to retreat now would be to betray our mission, our word and our friends".
Mr Bush claimed "steady progress" in implementing a plan for Iraq that included the transfer of sovereignty, establishing stability, improving Iraq's infrastructure, enlisting additional international support, and helping Iraq conduct elections next January.
At the UN General Assembly in New York, France poured cold water on the idea of more international aid for the US-led coalition.
"Neither today nor tomorrow will (France) commit itself militarily in Iraq," French Foreign Minister Mr Michel Barnier said. "In Iraq, violence is exploding. Only when the Iraqis take control of their future will the country be able to escape the chaos which could destabilise the entire region."
The Bush supporters of the war, including Vice President Dick Cheney and Deputy Defence Secretary Mr Paul Wolfowitz, joined in a standing ovation for the Iraqi prime minister when he said "Thank you, America" for liberating his country.
Mr Allawi accused the western media of omitting to report that 15 of Iraq's 18 provinces were peaceful. In Al Anbar province he said, "there is nothing, no problem, except on a small pocket in Fallujah."
Speaking in Columbus, Ohio, Mr Kerry said the Iraqi premier was painting an unrealistically upbeat picture of the situation in his homeland.
"I think the prime minister is obviously contradicting his own statement of a few days ago where he said the terrorists are pouring into the country," he said." "The United States and the Iraqis have retreated from whole areas of Iraq. There are no-go zones in Iraq today. You can't hold an election in a no-go zone."
The Democrat also called it a "disgrace" that Defence Secretary Mr Donald Rumsfeld "did not tell the truth" to Congress about the number of trained Iraqi personnel "and it's a disgrace that the president didn't hold anyone accountable."
Without naming him, Mr Bush replied to Mr Kerry's criticisms of his handling of the war, saying "a mixed message" can embolden the enemy and dispirit the Iraqi people and US troops.
"That's why I will continue to lead with clarity and in a resolute way."
Asked why he put so much stock in the CIA when it said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, and then on Tuesday dismissed its pessimistic scenarios for Iraq as a "guess", Mr Bush said he should have used the word "estimate".
Referring to al-Zarqawi, believed to be behind the killing of many hostages, Mr Bush said "our military cannot be defeated by these thugs (who) behead Americans so they can get on the TV screens." Like most Americans "I'm disgusted by that kind of behaviour, but I'm not going to yield."
Some uncertainty over future US military strength in Iraq emerged from contradictory statements by Mr Allawi and Gen John Abizaid, commander of US troops in the Middle East.
Mr Bush said that General Abizaid had not asked for more troops but if he did, "I'd listen to him."