THE WORLD - Bush sees reason to be encouraged by local-level progress
CRAWFORD, TEXAS — President Bush sought to reassure the nation Saturday that he saw "signs of progress" in Iraq, especially at the local level, despite a week that saw the deadliest suicide bombings since the American-led invasion in 2003.
In his weekly radio address, Bush argued that "Americans can be encouraged" by evidence of reconciliation in several provinces that suffered intense sectarian violence or served as hotbeds of the insurgency.
"The rule of law is being restored," he said.
"Virtually every city and town" in Al Anbar province in western Iraq now has a mayor and functioning municipal council, Bush said. He cited similar political advances in parts of Muthanna, Diyala and Nineveh provinces. Iraq has 18 provinces.
Bush conceded that the central Iraqi government had failed to produce similar political progress on a national level despite the U.S. troop increase and a six-month security crackdown. But he argued that reconciliation at the local level would "help create the conditions for reconciliation in Baghdad as well."
Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's government in Baghdad faces mounting criticism in Washington for incompetence, sloth and sectarianism. Eleven cabinet ministers have boycotted the struggling government in recent weeks and six other slots remain empty, and the parliament insisted on taking August off.
Bush's optimistic comments, which he taped on vacation at his Texas ranch, help prepare for a crucial Sept. 15 White House report to Congress on progress in Iraq. It will rely on the assessments of Ambassador Ryan Crocker and senior military leaders, including Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the senior U.S. commander in Iraq, and Navy Adm. William J. Fallon, the U.S. commander in the Middle East.
They have not yet reported or made recommendations to the White House, however, and Bush "has made no decisions yet on the way ahead," Gordon Johndroe, a deputy White House spokesman, told reporters in Crawford. "We'll just have to see."
Johndroe denied published reports that the White House planned to bar Crocker and Petraeus from appearing in public to discuss their conclusions and advice. Both, Johndroe said, will testify in open session to relevant congressional committees.
In his radio address, Bush said that U.S. and Iraqi forces had "struck powerful blows against Al Qaeda terrorists and violent extremists" in Al Anbar and other long-restive provinces.
