Bush upbeat about Iraq after surprise visit

Questions about Guantanamo
On another subject, Bush was asked about three suicides last week among terror suspects being held at the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

“I’d like to close Guantanamo. I also recognize that we’re holding some people that are darn dangerous,” he said. “Eventually, these people will have trials and they will have counsel.”

Human rights organizations and many foreign leaders have urged the United States to shut down the prison.

“I was inspired to be able to visit the capital of a free and Democratic Iraq,” Bush said. Of his first direct contact with the newly named al-Maliki, Bush said, “I saw first hand the strength of his character and his deep determination to succeed.”

Responding to growing pressure at home to bring back a substantial number of U.S. troops, Bush said an exit strategy would continue to be driven by “events on the ground.”

Troop level suggestions from Casey
He said key troop level decisions would based on recommendations from Gen. George Casey, the top general on the ground.

Earlier, speaking with reporters who traveled with him aboard Air Force One, Bush said, “I am going to do what I think is right” when it comes to deciding on troop levels.

“When I tell you these decisions are going to be made by Gen. Casey, I mean it.”

Several proposals were before Congress to speed up a withdrawal of U.S. troops, including one by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., Bush’s 2004 election rival, to withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq by year’s end.

Bush told reporters in his Rose Garden news conference: “My message to the enemy is, don’t count on us leaving before we succeed,” Bush said.

As to war critics, Bush said, “my message to the critics is, we listen very carefully, and we adjust when needed to adjust.”

Bush declined to draw any parallels between the U.S. presence in Iraq and its involvement three decades ago in Vietnam. “I did the right thing in Iraq,” he said flatly.

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