Bush sticking to failed policy over Iraq, say critics

US President George W Bush won cautious kudos in Europe and Asia yesterday for urging reduced dependance on oil and backing alternative energy sources in his State of the Union address, but his push for more troops in Iraq was widely derided.

Mr Bush proposed reducing gasoline consumption in the US by 20% during the next 10 years through tougher fuel economy standards and mandatory production of more ethanol and other alternative fuels.

While many said the president did not go far enough to combat global warming, most saw Mr Bush’s proposals as a good sign.

“His remarks about climate change, his willingness to reduce energy consumption and to support alternative energy sources will be welcomed in Europe in general, and in Germany especially,” said Mr Karsten Voigt, the co-ordinator for relations with the US for Germany, which holds the European Union and Group of Eight presidencies.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair supported Mr Bush’s words on the environment, but said concrete steps on the global level must be taken. “We do need to make sure that we get a binding international framework that allows us to tackle this issue at the only level ultimately where it can be tackled,” he said.

On Iraq, Mr Bush was widely criticised as sticking with a failed policy in seeking support for his plan to increase American troop strength.

“Bush has not come up with anything new and it gives no real hope for ordinary Iraqis,” said Hussein al-Falluji, a Sunni Arab lawmaker in Iraq.

In Japan, which was a vocal supporter of the US-led invasion in 2003, critics saw little evidence of new thinking that would salvage the country from continued sectarian strife, which Mr Bush hopes to quell with an increase of 21,000 troops.