Bush admits war decision based on faulty intelligence

PRESIDENT George W Bush yesterday accepted responsibility for going to war with faulty intelligence, but firmly defended a decision that has deeply divided America.

“We cannot and will not leave Iraq until victory is achieved,” he said.

The president said that today’s parliamentary elections in Iraq are a watershed moment that will inspire democracy across the Middle East.

But with public opinion still running against his mission, Mr Bush was left defending his decision to go to war nearly three years ago.

“It is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong. As president I am responsible for the decision to go into Iraq,” Mr Bush told a foreign policy forum on the eve of elections to establish Iraq’s first permanent, democratically elected government.

“And I’m also responsible for fixing what went wrong by reforming our intelligence capabilities. And we’re doing just that.

“We are in Iraq today because our goal has always been more than the removal of a brutal dictator. It is to leave a free and democratic Iraq in his place,” he said.

Most Americans see progress on establishing democracy in Iraq, but they are less optimistic about efforts to prevent a civil war and reduce civilian casualties, a poll has found.

Almost six in 10 - 56% - said they thought progress is being made in the establishment of democracy, but almost as many - 53% - said they thought the US was losing ground in reducing civilian casualties, according to the poll by the Pew Research Centre for the People & the Press.

The president is banking on a successful election to signal that his war plan is working. If the voting establishes a successful government, it eventually could lead to the withdrawal of US forces.

Across Iraq yesterday, troops were in place, the borders were closed and the ballots were ready.

Even though Sunni insurgent groups vowed not to attack the polls, angry Shi’ites protested a televised slur on the country’s religious leadership. Rumours spread of ballots smuggled in from Iran.

Up to 15 million Iraqis were to choose 275 members of the new parliament from among 7,655 candidates running on 996 tickets, representing Shi’ite, Sunni, Kurdish, Turkomen and sectarian interests across a wide political spectrum.

A coalition of Shi’ite religious parties, which dominate the current government, is expected to win the biggest number of parliament seats. But the Bush administration hopes more Sunni Arabs will win seats and help establish a government that can lure Sunnis away from the insurgency.