Bush Blames Saddam for Iraq Instability


By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer


WASHINGTON -
President Bush said Wednesday that Saddam Hussein, not continued U.S.
 involvement in Iraq, is responsible for ongoing sectarian violence that is
 threatening the formation of a democratic government. In his third speech this 
month to bolster public support for the war, Bush worked to counter critics 
who say the U.S. presence in the wartorn nation is fueling the insurgency. 


Bush said that Saddam was a tyrant and used violence to exacerbate
 sectarian divisions to keep himself in power, and that as a result, deep 
tensions persist to this day.


"The enemies of a free Iraq are employing the same tactics Saddam used, killing 
and terrorizing the Iraqi people in an effort to foment sectarian division," Bush 
said.


The president also pushed Iraq to speed up the formation of a unity 
government, seen as the best option to subdue the violence gripping several 
Iraqi cities


"I want the Iraqi people to hear I've got great confidence in their capacity to self 
govern," Bush said. "I also want the Iraqi people to hear — it's about time you 
get a unity government going. In other words, Americans understand you're 
newcomers to the political arena. But pretty soon its time to shut her down and 
get governing."


Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid accused Bush of sending "mixed 
messages" on Iraq that are hurting Iraq's chances for success.


"The president can give all the speeches he wants, but nothing will change the 
fact that his Iraq policy is wrong," said Reid, D-Nev. "Two weeks ago, he told 
the American people that Iraqis would control their country by the end of the 
year. But last week, he told us our troops would be there until at least 2009."


Hundreds of Iraqis have been killed in sectarian violence and by death squads 
operating inside the Shiite-dominated ministry since the Feb. 22 bombing of an 
important Shiite shrine in Samarra set off a wave of revenge attacks. On 
Wednesday, gunmen lined up 14 employees of an electronics trading company 
in Baghdad and shot them all, killing eight and wounding six.


"Iraq is a nation that is physically and emotionally scarred by three decades of 
Saddam's tyranny," Bush said in a speech to Freedom House, a more than 60-
year-old independent organization that supports the expansion of freedom in 
the world.


Bush said Iraq's instability "is the legacy of Saddam — a tyrant who 
exacerbated ethnic divisions to keep himself in power."


Bush said it's vital to the security of Iraq that its police force not be infiltrated 
with Saddam loyalists or members of illegal militias. The violence has raised the 
urgency for forming a government representing all ethnic groups, he said.


The United States has been pushing Iraq to speed up the formation of a unity 
government, seen as the best option to subdue the violence gripping several 
Iraqi cities — and to allow for the start of a U.S. troop withdrawal this summer.


But the talks are fragile in a country with deep sectarian differences between 
Shiites and Sunnis and daily violent death tolls in the dozens. U.S. Ambassador 
Zalmay Khalilzad has asked one of Iraq's most prominent Shiite politicians to 
seek the withdrawal of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's contentious 
nomination for a second term.


"I know that the work in Iraq is really difficult," Bush said, adding that a free Iraq 
in the Middle East is important to the security of America.


He criticized lawmakers calling for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from 
Iraq — a move that Bush said would have disastrous consequences for 
American security. If troops were withdrawn now, Iraq would turn into a safe 
haven for terrorists, who could arm themselves with weapons of mass 
destruction and could attack moderate governments in the Middle East, he said.


"The Iraqi government is still in transition, and the Iraqi security forces are still 
gathering capacity," Bush said. "If we leave Iraq before they're capable of 
defending their own democracy, the terrorists will win."

Bush lied when he said that our military would be welcome with open arms. Some Iraqis did welcome us but, contrary to what Bush portrayed, an open-arm welcome was not - repeat NOT - on everyone's agenda.

To say that the Iraqis are "newcomers to the political arena" is to directly and grossly insult their intelligence. We don't want them to copy our system. Our Democracy is a shell of what Bush proclaims it to be and is only a corrupt mixing of the Religious Right and Big Business.