Bush upbeat about Iraq after surprise visit

updated 3:52 p.m. ET June 14, 2006

WASHINGTON - President Bush, back from a visit to Iraq, said Wednesday violence there will never be eliminated but that a security crackdown and new intelligence on terrorism are contributing to “steady progress.”

In a Rose Garden news conference barely more than six hours after his return from Baghdad, a buoyant Bush insisted that U.S. troops would remain there until Iraqi forces can do the job on their own.

And while he said he recognized that calls for bringing home many of the 130,000 U.S. troops now in Iraq would only increase as the November elections draw nearer, pulling out too soon would “make the world a more dangerous place. It’s bad policy.”

Bush said he assured worried Iraqi leaders during his 5 1/2 hour visit on Tuesday that he would not bow to political pressure and bring troops home prematurely.

“If we stand down too soon, it won’t enable us to achieve our objectives,” the president said. He said those goals include an Iraq that can govern, sustain and defend itself.

The president said that any expectation of “zero violence” in Iraq was unreasonable. “That’s not going to happen,” Bush said.

But he also said that Iraqi and coalition forces were stepping up their activities against insurgents, in part by using new intelligence gathered in raids following the killing of top Iraqi terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi last week.

“We got new intelligence from those raids which will enable us to keep the pressure on the foreigners and the local Iraqis who are killing innocent lives,” he said.

Steps toward peace
The president also said that a crackdown in Baghdad ordered by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, which commenced Wednesday, offered the promise of reducing the violence that has plagued the Iraqi capital.

That crackdown sent tens of thousands of Iraqi police and soldiers patrolling Iraqi streets, searching cars and securing roads.

With al-Maliki’s new unity government in place, “The progress will be steady toward a goal that has clearly been defined,” Bush said.

Bush’s lightning trip was cloaked in extreme secrecy and security. Only a few top aides knew about the trip ahead of time — not even most members of his Cabinet.

As Bush left, his plane sat in total darkness on the runway and lifted off with no running lights. Air Force One had not been completely refueled so that it could get up high faster. As a result, a refueling stop was required en route back to Washington and it was nearing dawn Wednesday when Bush made it back to the White House.

NBC VIDEO Matthews: Bush the realist? June 14: “Hardball” host Chris Matthews describes President Bush’s comments on Iraq as “realistic” and “Giuliani-like.” MSNBC

Bush defended the tactics, including not even telling al-Maliki about the visit until just five minutes before he and the Iraqi prime minister met in Baghdad.

“It’s a security concern because I’m a high value target for some,” Bush said. “Iraq’s a dangerous place.”

He said the withdrawal of U.S. and coalition forces would depend on how well the Iraqi people accept al-Maliki’s new unity government.

Enough American forces would remain in Iraq “for the government to succeed,” he said.

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