Bush sites improved Iraqi economy to answer war ctitics

Trying to build support for Iraq war strategy, President George Bush acknowledged today that reconstruction has proceeded with “fits and starts” but spreading economic progress is lifting people’s hopes for a democratic future.

In particular, Bush cited Najaf, 90 miles south of Baghdad, and Mosul in northern Iraq – once the sites of some of the bloodiest battles of the war – as two cities where headway is being made, giving Iraqis more of a stake in their country’s future.

“In places like Mosul and Najaf, residents are seeing tangible progress in their lives,” Bush said.

“They’re gaining a personal stake in a peaceful future and their confidence in Iraq’s democracy is growing. The progress in these cities is being replicated across much of Iraq. And more of Iraq’s people are seeing the real benefits that a democratic society can bring.”

There’s still plenty of work left to do in cities like Najaf and Mosul, he said.

“Like most of Iraq, the reconstruction in Najaf has proceeded with fits and starts since liberation,” Bush said.

“It’s been uneven. Sustaining electric power remains a major challenge. ... Security in Najaf has improved substantially but threats remain. There are still kidnappings and militias and armed gangs are exerting more influence than they should in a free society.”

Bush’s speech was the second in a series of four to answer criticism and questions about the continuing US presence in Iraq more two and a half years after the war started.

Bush is shouldering the lowest job approval rating of his presidency, and the latest series of speeches amount to a public relations campaign to respond to political pressure that has mounted as US deaths have eclipsed 2,100. He and other administration officials are working to shore up slumping public support for the war in the run-up to the December 15 vote in Iraq to create a democratically elected government that will run the country for the next four years.

While Bush talked about reconstruction projects and the reopening of schools, markets and hospitals, the upgrading of roads and the growth of construction jobs in the two cities, he also acknowledged that both cities still face challenges.

“Iraqis are beginning to see that a free life will be a better life,” Bush said. “Reconstruction has not always gone as well as we had hoped, primarily because of the security challenges on the ground. Rebuilding a nation devastated by a dictator is a large undertaking.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi suggested that Bush was out of touch with reality in Iraq. “Just because he says thing are improving there, doesn’t make it so,” the California Democrat said.

“The president says the security situation on the ground is better. It is not,” Pelosi said. “More of the same in Iraq is not making us safer.”

After a caucus meeting on Iraq, she and other Democrats in leadership sought to project a unified front on the war, even though they disagree over just when US troops should return home.

In his speech, Bush acknowledged that there’s still plenty of work left to do in cities like Najaf and Mosul.

“Like most of Iraq, the reconstruction in Najaf has proceeded with fits and starts since liberation,” he said. “It’s been uneven. Sustaining electric power remains a major challenge.”

“Security in Najaf has improved substantially but threats remain,” Bush added. “There are still kidnappings and militias and armed gangs are exerting more influence than they should in a free society.”

Critics of the administration’s reconstruction strategy in Iraq say not enough has been done since the US-led invasion to reduce unemployment, step up oil production and keep the lights on.

“There’s no doubt there are a lot of good things happening economically, but to conclude, therefore, that the economy is fundamentally healthy or that it’s improving fast enough to really help us with the war, I think goes too far,” said Michael O’Hanlon, foreign policy analyst at the Brookings Institution, a liberal think tank in Washington.

Senate Democrats were issuing a report today saying the US faces a reconstruction gap. While the administration cites the number of new schools built, roads paved and businesses created, “the simple fact is that basic needs - jobs, essential services, healthcare – remain unmet,” according to the report.

“Iraq’s economic progress has fallen significantly short of administration’s goals,” the Democratic report said.

“Clearly, efforts to grow Iraq’s economy have been challenging because Saddam Hussein left his nation’s economic infrastructure in shambles. However, the Bush administration has exacerbated the challenge by its poor planning and policies.”