WASHINGTON — President Bush on Tuesday criticized what he called "irresponsible debate" in the United States over the war in Iraq, where he forecast political progress but also "more tough fighting."
He also called on Iraq's Sunnis and Shiites to end their sectarian division, and for Sunnis to cease their insurgency and participate in the nascent political life there.
Bush said the war's critics should stop questioning the motives that led him to launch the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
"The American people know the difference between responsible and irresponsible debate when they see it.... And they know the difference between a loyal opposition that points out what is wrong, and defeatists who refuse to see that anything is right," Bush said.
"I ask all Americans to hold their elected leaders to account and demand a debate that brings credit to our democracy -- not comfort to our adversaries," Bush said.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) said it was the White House that had twisted the Iraq debate by attacking critics and sidelining a general and a White House economic aide who had offered prewar predictions that the invasion would require more troops and money than the administration estimated.
"I wholeheartedly agree with President Bush about the need for accountability in the debate on the war in Iraq," Kennedy said in a statement.
Kennedy said the administration had been "firing or ignoring those who spoke the truth about Iraq, and rewarding those who manipulated the facts and were so obviously wrong about the war."
Karen Finney, the Democratic National Committee's communications director, said "the Bush administration's attack, distract and distort tactics reflect a Nixonian paranoia that is un-American."
Bush, in a 45-minute address to a welcoming audience of about 425 members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and their supporters, outlined the United States' goals for Iraq in 2006, forecasting expanded political progress and security efforts.
The speech at a Washington hotel continued a series of addresses Bush began at the end of last year, reflecting an attempt to turn around lagging public support for the war by being more frank about the problems the United States is facing in Iraq, while also staying optimistic.
The president is scheduled to continue the effort today in Louisville, Ky., where he will hold what the White House is presenting as a discussion on U.S. anti-terrorism efforts.
