WASHINGTON — President Bush served notice Friday that he intended to hold fast to his plans for Iraq, promising Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari that "there are not going to be any timetables" for withdrawal of U.S. troops.
In a joint appearance with Jafari at the White House, Bush said he would not be guided by polls showing shrinking American support for the war.
"My job is to set an agenda, and to lead toward that agenda," he said.
Jafari concurred: "This is not the time to fall back," he said.
The declarations by the two leaders came as Republican as well as Democratic lawmakers express growing concern about the future of the war, and as some urge the White House to begin making plans to bring it to an end. Their anxiety was underscored by a recent wave of violence in Iraq, including record numbers of car bombings. Late Thursday in Fallouja, a car bombing on a convoy carrying mostly female Marines killed at least two Marines and wounded 13 others. Four troops were missing.
The White House has responded with an aggressive campaign to win public support, including media interviews, a contentious appearance Thursday before Congress by Pentagon officials and plans for a major presidential address Tuesday from Ft. Bragg, N.C., to defend the U.S. mission in Iraq.
Public support for Bush's handling of the war is at its lowest ever, recent polls show. An Associated Press-Ipsos survey released Friday shows that 53% of Americans believe the war was a mistake, the highest level of opposition found so far. In December 2003, nine months after the U.S.-led invasion, two-thirds of Americans said they agreed with the decision to go to war.
"The way ahead is not going to be easy," Bush said Friday, dismissing the surveys but acknowledging that the U.S. mission in Iraq was in a "time of testing."
Insurgents "figure that if they can shake our will and affect public opinion, then politicians will give up on the mission," he said. "I'm not giving up on the mission."
Asked for a second time in two weeks whether he agreed with Vice President Dick Cheney's view that the insurgency was in its "last throes," Bush did not answer directly. Battling the insurgency is "difficult ... it's tough work," he responded. He said the insurgents inflict carnage "because they know that the carnage they create will be on TV, and they know that it bothers people to see death."
