Iraq "success" possible without end to violence, Bush says

dpa German Press Agency Published: Wednesday May 2, 2007

Washington- Pressed by Congress to bring troops home from
Iraq, US President George W Bush on Wednesday defined success as
reducing - not stopping - the country's deadly sectarian violence.
"There are parts of our own country that have got a certain level
of violence to it," he told a Washington audience. "But success is a
level of violence where the people (in Iraq) feel comfortable about
living their daily lives."

A day after vetoing legislation that would have started a US
troop pullout, Bush suggested he would be satisfied if warfare in
Iraq waned to the level of US inner-city crime.

"Washington for many years was the murder capital of the United
States of America. I believe we were still able to do our jobs,"
White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

He rejected speculation by reporters that Bush was lowering the
bar for US goals in Iraq from lofty aims like spreading democracy in
the Middle East.

Bush has recently claimed that US and Iraqi forces have made
progress in curbing sectarian violence and has sought to shift the
focus to fighting al-Qaeda elements in Iraq.

In a series of speeches, he has renewed efforts to rally the US
public behind the unpopular war, though he said Wednesday that
"casualties are likely to stay high" in Iraq.

"What the president is trying to do is to be realistic," Snow
said.

Bush on Wednesday vetoed a war spending plan passed by the
Democratic-led Congress that would have forced him to begin pulling
US troops out of Iraq by October 1.

The impasse has held up some 100 billion dollars for US military
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan this year.

Shortly before meeting congressional leaders for talks on ending
the deadlock, the White House released a message from Bush to
Congress in which he argued that the legislation was unconstitutional
because it infringed on his presidential powers.

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency

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