British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. Bush defended the invasion of Iraq and justified the existing coalition forces in Iraq as necessary to help enable Iraqis to govern their own country.
They also pledged firm support to Iraq's fight against terrorism and violence, in a joint conference at the White House Thursday.
Both leaders called on the international community to support the Iraqi government. They acclaimed the arrival of a new government in Baghdad as "a new beginning", but warned of“immense challenge."
The meeting of the President and his closest ally comes at a moment when their domestic popularity has hit all time lows, with 26 per cent in the case of Mr Blair, primarily because of the three-year-old war, the end of which is not in sight, with the origins shrouded in controversy, reported The Independent Online Edition.
It is Mr Blair's eighth visit to Washington since 9/11 and possibly his last to a country where he is far more popular than at home. The Independent
"The war has affected mentality of the country," Mr Bush acknowledged, with polls showing his approval rating down to barely 30 per cent. "American people need to know we are making progress," he said.
Currently, some 132,000 US troops are in Iraq, and the Pentagon is hoping to reduce this figure to no more than 100,000 by the end of the year. British forces number 8,000. But in both countries demands are growing for a faster withdrawal. Even in the US, where support for the war has always been higher than in Britain, Americans now believe, by a 59-40 margin, that the 2003 invasion was a mistake. The Independent
Meanwhile, they also acknowledged mistakes in managing the occupation of Iraq that have made the conflict more difficult and more damaging to the U.S. image abroad.
Washingtonpost.com
Bush was quoted by The Washington Post as saying that the "biggest mistake" for the United States was the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, in which guards photographed themselves sexually tormenting Iraqi prisoners, spawning revulsion worldwide. "We've been paying for that for a long period of time."
In his own recital of errors, Blair cited the process of "de-Baathification" that immediately followed the overthrow of the old government. Many analysts say that decision to remove all of Hussein's loyalists fueled the insurgency because it threw tens of thousands of Iraqis out of work and left an administrative vacuum, and Blair agreed that it should have been done "in a more differentiated way." Washingtonpost.com
As to the Iran issue, Mr Bush offered rewards for Tehran if it ended uranium enrichment, saying that the US would continue to work with Iran's government despite its "intransigence" but urged it to suspend enrichment to avoid international isolation. BBC
Since the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, 2,463 US soldiers, 111 British soldiers and 111 more from other coalition nations have been killed. The death toll of Iraqi military range from 4,895 to 6,370, with the number of civilians between 37,848 and 42,216. Reuters
They also pledged firm support to Iraq's fight against terrorism and violence, in a joint conference at the White House Thursday.
Both leaders called on the international community to support the Iraqi government. They acclaimed the arrival of a new government in Baghdad as "a new beginning", but warned of“immense challenge."
The meeting of the President and his closest ally comes at a moment when their domestic popularity has hit all time lows, with 26 per cent in the case of Mr Blair, primarily because of the three-year-old war, the end of which is not in sight, with the origins shrouded in controversy, reported The Independent Online Edition.
It is Mr Blair's eighth visit to Washington since 9/11 and possibly his last to a country where he is far more popular than at home. The Independent
"The war has affected mentality of the country," Mr Bush acknowledged, with polls showing his approval rating down to barely 30 per cent. "American people need to know we are making progress," he said.
Currently, some 132,000 US troops are in Iraq, and the Pentagon is hoping to reduce this figure to no more than 100,000 by the end of the year. British forces number 8,000. But in both countries demands are growing for a faster withdrawal. Even in the US, where support for the war has always been higher than in Britain, Americans now believe, by a 59-40 margin, that the 2003 invasion was a mistake. The Independent
Meanwhile, they also acknowledged mistakes in managing the occupation of Iraq that have made the conflict more difficult and more damaging to the U.S. image abroad.
Washingtonpost.com
Bush was quoted by The Washington Post as saying that the "biggest mistake" for the United States was the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, in which guards photographed themselves sexually tormenting Iraqi prisoners, spawning revulsion worldwide. "We've been paying for that for a long period of time."
In his own recital of errors, Blair cited the process of "de-Baathification" that immediately followed the overthrow of the old government. Many analysts say that decision to remove all of Hussein's loyalists fueled the insurgency because it threw tens of thousands of Iraqis out of work and left an administrative vacuum, and Blair agreed that it should have been done "in a more differentiated way." Washingtonpost.com
As to the Iran issue, Mr Bush offered rewards for Tehran if it ended uranium enrichment, saying that the US would continue to work with Iran's government despite its "intransigence" but urged it to suspend enrichment to avoid international isolation. BBC
Since the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, 2,463 US soldiers, 111 British soldiers and 111 more from other coalition nations have been killed. The death toll of Iraqi military range from 4,895 to 6,370, with the number of civilians between 37,848 and 42,216. Reuters
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