WASHINGTON — President Bush, responding Thursday to a scathing bipartisan assessment of the Iraq war, vigorously rejected the idea that deteriorating conditions there require the United States to scale back its goals and said that he remains committed to "victory in Iraq."
"I thought we would succeed quicker than we did, and I am disappointed by the pace of success," Bush said at a joint news conference with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
But he declared, "I also believe we're going to succeed. I believe we'll prevail."
As he has many times before, Bush cast the Iraq war as part of a global struggle between violent ideological extremists and defenders of freedom and democracy.
"We will stand firm again in this first war of the 21st century," the president said. "We will defeat the extremists and the radicals. We will help a young democracy prevail in Iraq. And in so doing, we will secure freedom and peace for millions, including our own citizens."
Bush praised the report of the Iraq Study Group, which was headed by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, a Republican, and former Rep. Lee H. Hamilton, a Democrat, for focusing on "a way forward."
But he shied from embracing its recommendations on several key issues:
* The report urged the Pentagon to refocus its efforts on training Iraqi forces and suggested that combat troops could begin to pull out as early as 2008, but the president insisted they must stay until victory was achieved. "I've always said we'd like our troops out as fast as possible," he said, but "our commanders will be making recommendations based upon whether or not we're achieving our stated objective. And the objective, I repeat, is a government which can sustain, govern, and defend itself."
* The report urged Washington to begin direct talks on Iraq with Iran and Syria, but Bush said such talks could not begin until Syria stopped trying to topple the government in Lebanon and Iran made a verifiable commitment to halting its pursuit of enriched uranium -- a critical step toward developing nuclear weapons.
* The commission urged Bush to step up U.S. involvement to mediate the conflict between Palestinians and Israel, but the president said progress there depended on the Palestinians forging a unified government committed to peaceful resolution of the conflict -- a step he said extremists were trying to block.
