Transcript: 'We accept these burdens ...'Edited transcript of the president's address Tuesday on Iraq

CNN, Tuesday, June 28, 2005; Posted: 11:26 p.m. EDT (03:26 GMT)

FORT BRAGG, North Carolina (CNN) -- President Bush addressed the American people tonight in a speech given from Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The following is an edited transcript of the address:

Good evening.
I am pleased to visit Fort Bragg, home of the airborne and special operations forces. It's an honor to speak before you tonight.
My greatest responsibility as president is to protect the American people. And that's your calling as well.
I thank you for your service, your courage and your sacrifice.
I thank your families, who support you in your vital work.
The soldiers and families of Fort Bragg have contributed mightily to our efforts to secure our country and promote peace. America is grateful, and so is your commander in chief.

Bush tries to overcome flagging support on Iraq

Reuters, Adam Entous, Tue Jun 28, 2005 01:00 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush will try to shore up support for the Iraq war with an address to the nation on Tuesday night, telling Americans it is essential to keep fighting to stabilize Iraq despite the prospect of more bloodshed.
Bush will deliver his stay-the-course message surrounded by troops at the military base at Fort Bragg, North Carolina -- a backdrop designed to whip up patriotic feelings as the administration tries to cast Iraq as part of the president's broader, and more popular, global war on terrorism.
With Democrats and some Republicans in Congress pressuring the administration to show results in Iraq or pull out, the White House billed the speech as a major effort by Bush to make his case at a critical moment.

U.S. Talks With Iraq Insurgents Confirmed: Goal Is Sunnis' Political Inclusion, Rumsfeld Says

Dana Priest, Washington Post, Monday, June 27, 2005; Page A01

The U.S. military in Iraq has been holding face-to-face meetings with some Iraqi leaders of the insurgency there, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and the U.S. commander in charge of Iraq confirmed yesterday.
The talks are part of the military's revised campaign to drive a wedge between the Iraqi and foreign insurgents, according to U.S. commanders. Pentagon officials have acknowledged the new strategy but have not, until now, spoken openly about efforts to make contact with some Iraqi insurgent leaders.

Two Groups Charge Abuse of Witness Law

ERIC LICHTBLAU, The New York Times, June 27, 2005,

WASHINGTON, June 26 - Two leading civil rights groups charge in a new study that the Bush administration has twisted the American system of due process "beyond recognition" in jailing at least 70 terror suspects as "material witnesses" since the Sept. 11 attacks, and the groups are calling on Congress to impose tougher safeguards.
The report, which is to be released on Monday by the groups, Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union, found that the 70 suspects, about a quarter of them American citizens and all but one Muslim men, were jailed - often for weeks or months - in American facilities without being charged with a crime. Ultimately, only seven men were formally accused of supporting terrorism, the report said.

Rumsfeld Rejects Outside Panel on Gitmo

The Washington Post, The Associated Press, Sunday, June 26, 2005; 9:38 PM

WASHINGTON -- A new independent investigation of abuse allegations at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, "doesn't make sense," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Sunday.
Some Democratic lawmakers are pushing for an independent commission to look into conditions at the detention center at the U.S. Navy base in Cuba.
An estimated 540 detainees _ most of them captured during battles in Afghanistan _ are being held at the base.

U.S. says Iraqis may fight rebels for years

Alastair Macdonald, Reuters, Sun Jun 26, 2005 03:10 PM ET

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Sunday that American forces would not defeat Iraq's rebels but would make way for Iraqis to put down an insurgency that could go on for a decade or more.

His remarks came on another day of bloodshed in which three suicide attacks around the northern city of Mosul killed more than two dozen people, highlighting the task faced by Iraq's U.S.-trained forces in overcoming a Sunni Arab revolt, backed by foreign Islamists, against the new Shi'ite-led government.
"That insurgency can go on for any number of years," Rumsfeld told Fox News.
"Insurgencies tend to go on five, six, eight, 10, 12 years. Foreign forces are not going to repress that insurgency.

U.S. officials: Mosul attacks kill 41: Baghdad deputy chief of emergency police assassinated

CNN, Sunday, June 26, 2005; Posted: 2:27 p.m. EDT (18:27 GMT)

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. military officials said four suicide bombs in the Mosul area killed 41 people in 18 hours, while Iraqi police said the toll from the attacks was at least 19 dead and 27 wounded.

The most recent blast took place at 2:45 p.m. (6:45 a.m. ET) Sunday at the security entrance of the emergency room of the Jamahoori Hospital, killing five police officers and wounding six, Iraqi police said. U.S. military officials said three people were killed in the hospital attack.

Thirteen With the C.I.A. Sought by Italy in a Kidnapping

STEPHEN GREY and DON VAN NATTA, The New York Times, June 25, 2005

MILAN, June 24 - An Italian judge has ordered the arrest of 13 officers and operatives of the Central Intelligence Agency on charges that they seized an Egyptian cleric on a Milan street two years ago and flew him to Egypt for questioning, Italian prosecutors and investigators said Friday.
The judge, Chiara Nobili of Milan, signed the arrest warrants on Wednesday for 13 C.I.A. operatives who are suspected of seizing an imam named Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, as he walked to his mosque here for noon prayers on Feb. 17, 2003.
It is unclear what prompted the issuance of the warrants, but Judge Guido Salvini said in May that it was "certain" that Mr. Nasr had been seized by "people belonging to foreign intelligence networks interested in interrogating him and neutralizing him, to then hand him over to Egyptian authorities."

Bush Tells Iraqi Prime Minister He Rejects Timetable for Troop Withdrawals

Mark Mazzetti, Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 9:20 AM PDT, June 24, 2005

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, completing a White House meeting with visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari, declined today to say how long the United States would keep troops in Iraq and, turning to his guest, said, "You don't have to worry, Mr. Prime Minister, about timetables."
It was the first meeting between the president and Jafari, the head of the interim government that is preparing a constitution as a key step toward self-government.
Speaking at a shortened news conference in the East Room, the president avoided a direct answer when asked about different assessments of conditions in Iraq. Vice President Dick Cheney has said the insurgency in Iraq is in its "last throes," and Gen. John P. Abizaid, the commander of U.S. troops in the Middle East, has said there has been no significant change in the status of the conflict over the past six months.

Military draft? Polls finds Americans opposed

The Associated Press, Updated: 9:22 a.m. ET June 24, 2005

WASHINGTON - Americans overwhelmingly oppose reinstatement of the military draft and most say they wouldn’t encourage their children to enlist in the service either, an AP-Ipsos poll found.
That resistance underscores the dilemma facing the Bush administration as it struggles to recruit a volunteer military in war time.
The Army is falling short of its recruiting goals this year at a time the country is fighting extended wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army has repeatedly missed its monthly recruiting goals this year, falling short by 42 percent in April.

Al-Qaida finds safe haven in Iran: But former leaders reportedly under house arrest

Robert Windrem, Investigative producer, NBC News, Updated: 3:03 p.m. ET June 24, 2005

Somewhere north of Tehran, living perhaps in villas near the town of Chalous on the Caspian Sea coast, are between 20 and 25 of al-Qaida’s former leaders, along with two of Osama bin Laden’s sons.
Men such as Saif al-Adel, the former military commander of al-Qaida, and Suleiman Abu Ghaith, the bespectacled bin Laden spokesman, are not in hiding but rather in the care — or custody — of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
“They are under virtual house arrest,” not able to do much of anything, said one senior U.S. intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
How they got there and what will happen to them is one of the more intriguing stories of the war on terror, one that is filled with secret movements, stolen communications and a failed attempt at a prisoner exchange involving Iranian dissidents.

White House stands behind Rove over comments on liberals and terrorism

CNN, Friday, June 24, 2005; Posted: 12:49 p.m. EDT (16:49 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A White House official said Friday the administration finds it "somewhat puzzling" that Democrats are demanding presidential adviser Karl Rove's apology or resignation for implying that liberals are soft on terrorism.
"I think Karl was very specific, very accurate, in who he was pointing out," communications director Dan Bartlett said. "It's touched a chord with these Democrats. I'm not sure why."

NOTE: Excerpts from Rove's comments are available via the NY Post.

Attack in Falluja Kills at Least 2 Marines and Wounds 13

JOHN F. BURNS and JAMES GLANZ, The New York Times, Published: June 24, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 24 - Two marines were killed and 13 were wounded when a suicide car bomber plowed into their vehicle in Falluja, west of Baghdad, the military said today.
Three marines and a sailor who are believed to have been in the vehicle are listed as missing "pending a positive identification," a military statement said of the attack, which occurred late Thursday. No further elaboration was given.

Republicans Voice Their Doubts: GOP senators tell Rumsfeld they fear the public is turning against the war in Iraq. 'People are beginning to question,

Maura Reynolds, Times Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, June 24, 2005

WASHINGTON — One senator described the public's perception of the war in Iraq as "more and more like Vietnam." A second worried that "our very presence there inspires more insurgents." A third said the strain on the armed forces "is getting worse, not better."
Military brass had heard such comments before when they trooped up Capitol Hill to answer questions from Congress. But this time there was a difference: The comments were coming from Republicans.
"We will lose this war if we leave too soon. And what is likely to make us do that? The public going south," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). "And that is happening, and that worries me greatly."

Despite Insurgency, Things Better in Iraq, Rumsfeld Says

Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service, Defense Link

WASHINGTON, June 15, 2005 – Despite the insurgency, things are getting better in Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told the BBC's David Frost in a June 13 interview.
Statistically, the security situation in Iraq is unchanged in recent months. DoD officials said between 50 and 60 attacks a day take place in the country. But Rumsfeld pointed to the increase in trained and equipped Iraqi security forces as an important security and political milestone.

Timeline for Iraq Pullout Would Aid Insurgents, Rumsfeld Says

Timothy Williams, The New York Times, June 23, 2005

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said today that setting a timeline for withdrawal of American troops from Iraq would give a "lifeline for terrorists." And in a spirited defense of the war, he invoked Abraham Lincoln and the American revolution.
But several Democratic members of the Senate Armed Services Committee questioned the progress of the war effort and the Bush administration's handling of the war. During a particularly dramatic sequence, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, called the war a "quagmire" that had been "consistently and grossly mismanaged" by Mr. Rumsfeld. He also accused the defense secretary of making a series of misleading comments before and during the war.
"In baseball, it's three strikes you're out," Mr. Kennedy said. "Isn't it time for you to resign?"
After pausing to take a breath, Mr. Rumsfeld said, "Senator, I've offered my resignation to the president twice." President Bush did not accept the resignations, the defense secretary said.

Political Process in Iraq Will Stay on Schedule, Rumsfeld Says

Sgt. Sara Wood, USA, American Forces Press Service, Defense Link

WASHINGTON, June 23, 2005 – America is not losing the war in Iraq, and despite the insurgency's efforts at disruption, the political process will continue on schedule through elections planned there for December, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said in radio interviews June 21.

Bush Defends Strategy In Iraq, Pledges to 'Complete the Mission'

Jim VandeHei, Staff Writer, Washington Post, Tuesday, June 21, 2005; Page A04

President Bush said yesterday that "cold-blooded" killers will fail in their attempt to drive the United States out of Iraq prematurely, as he defended the administration's war strategy and its policies for secretly detaining hundreds of alleged terrorists around the world.
After meeting with two leaders of the European Union at the White House, Bush told reporters he regrets the mounting loss of life in Iraq but has no plans to change the U.S. policy for securing Iraq, training a new Iraqi military and staying as long as necessary to prevail. A growing number of lawmakers and military experts are predicting it will be at least two years before Bush can significantly reduce the number of U.S. troops, currently about 140,000. Some lawmakers, including Republicans who supported the war, have proposed setting a timetable to begin pulling out by this fall.

Bombs in 3 cities kill 18 in Iraq

CNN, Monday, June 20, 2005; Posted: 4:51 a.m. EDT (08:51 GMT)

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Car bombs in three Iraqi cities killed 18 people Monday, most of them Iraqi police and security forces. A U.S. soldier also died, authorities said.
In Erbil, a suicide car bomb exploded inside the compound of an Iraqi police building, killing at least 12 people and wounding 103, a spokesman for the city's regional ministry of interior said.

CIA chief has 'excellent idea' where bin Laden is

CNN, Monday, June 20, 2005; Posted: 3:46 a.m. EDT (07:46 GMT)

NEW YORK (AP) -- The director of the CIA says he has an "excellent idea" where Osama bin Laden is hiding, but that the United States' respect for sovereign nations makes it more difficult to capture the al Qaeda chief.
In an interview with Time for the magazine's June 27 issue, Porter Goss was asked about the progress of the hunt for bin Laden.
"When you go to the question of dealing with sanctuaries in sovereign states, you're dealing with a problem of our sense of international obligation, fair play," Goss said. "We have to find a way to work in a conventional world in unconventional ways."

Note: The Time interview with Porter Goss is available here.

Baghdad diner bombed; U.S. troops press offensive

Alastair Macdonald, Reuters, Sun Jun 19, 2005 01:20 PM ET

A suicide bomber who walked into a Baghdad restaurant popular with police outside the Green Zone government compound killed 23 people on Sunday, the bloodiest attack in the capital for six weeks.
The al Qaeda group in Iraq led by Jordanian Abu Musab al- Zarqawi claimed the bombing as U.S. and Iraqi troops scoured towns close to the Syrian border that they believe serve as staging posts for foreign fighters coming into the country

Durbin expresses regret if Nazi remark was 'misunderstood'

CNN, June 18, 2005; Posted: 1:33 p.m. EDT (17:33 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, said Friday that he regretted any misunderstandings caused by his comments earlier this week comparing American interrogators at Guantanamo Bay to Nazis.
The White House, Senate Republicans and others had called for an apology after Durbin's comments Tuesday.
Durbin made the comparison after reading an FBI agent's report describing detainees at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as being chained to the floor without food or water in extreme temperatures.

McCain disputes Cheney on Iraq: Senator calls on White House to stop predicting successes

CNN, June 19, 2005; Posted: 7:50 p.m. EDT (23:50 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. John McCain disagreed Sunday with Vice President Dick Cheney's assertion that the insurgency in Iraq is in its "last throes," and called on the Bush administration to stop telling Americans victory is around the corner.
"What I think we should do," McCain told NBC's "Meet the Press," "is wait until we achieve the successes, then celebrate them, rather than predict them. Because too often that prediction is not proven to be true."

Note: The full transcript of McCain's appearance on Meet the Press is available.

Sixty killed as US launches major offensives on two fronts in Iraq

Jacob Silberberg in Qaim and Frank Griffiths, The Independent, 19 June 2005

Battles on two fronts in Iraq claimed the lives of nearly 60 people identified by US military as insurgents yesterday, as marines and Iraqi forces launched major offensives. And, in other attacks, two US soldiers and four Iraqis died, and about 20 were injured.

More than 50 of the insurgents died in Operation Spear, aimed at stopping the infiltration of foreign fighters from neighbouring Syria. More than 1,000 marines and Iraqi forces engaged in firefights in the dusty frontier town of Karabilah, about 200 miles west of Baghdad. About 100 insurgents have been captured, the US military said.

Americans Trade Fire With Insurgents in Western Iraq

SABRINA TAVERNISE and JAMES GLANZ, New York Times, June 19, 2005

KARABILA, Iraq, June 18 - American tank fire boomed across this dusty village in western Iraq on Saturday, and insurgents sporadically lobbed mortar shells in return as about 1,000 marines continued a day-old offensive amid a warren of dirt streets in an effort to return the area to Iraqi government control.
Laundry fluttered from clotheslines outside what appeared to be mostly abandoned houses, and a single white flag flew above one rooftop in a town that was almost silent except for the firing and the rumble of American humvees. By Saturday afternoon, most of the remaining resistance appeared to come from a single position in the western part of Karabila.

Bin Laden deputy sends message

CNN: Friday, June 17, 2005 Posted: 7:05 PM EDT (2305 GMT)

Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant urged Muslims to press on with their jihad against U.S. and Western interests in the "land of Islam," saying that Islamic nations must be allowed to run their own affairs without foreign interference.
The Arabic language television network Al-Jazeera aired on Friday portions of the video by Ayman al-Zawahiri, the No. 2 man in al Qaeda -- his first message in four months.

Let's Talk About Iraq

THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN, The New York Times, June 15, 2005

Ever since Iraq's remarkable election, the country has been descending deeper and deeper into violence. But no one in Washington wants to talk about it. Conservatives don't want to talk about it because, with a few exceptions, they think their job is just to applaud whatever the Bush team does. Liberals don't want to talk about Iraq because, with a few exceptions, they thought the war was wrong and deep down don't want the Bush team to succeed. As a result, Iraq is drifting sideways and the whole burden is being carried by our military. The rest of the country has gone shopping, which seems to suit Karl Rove just fine.

Iraq, Then and Now

Washington Post (editorial), Wednesday, June 15, 2005; Page A24

AFTER LAGGING for months, debate on Iraq in Washington is picking up again. That's a needed and welcome development, but much of the discussion is being diverted to the wrong subject. War opponents have been trumpeting several British government memos from July 2002, which describe the Bush administration's preparations for invasion, as revelatory of President Bush's deceptions about Iraq. Bloggers have demanded to know why "the mainstream media" have not paid more attention to them. Though we can't speak for The Post's news department, the answer appears obvious: The memos add not a single fact to what was previously known about the administration's prewar deliberations. Not only that: They add nothing to what was publicly known in July 2002.

Inside the Interrogation of Detainee 063

By ADAM ZAGORIN, MICHAEL DUFFY Time Magazine, June 12, 2005.

EXCLUSIVE: TO GET THE "20TH HIJACKER" TO TALK, THE U.S. USED A WIDE RANGE OF TACTICS. A SECRET LOG REVEALS THE FIRST DOCUMENTED VIEW OF HOW GITMO REALLY WORKS

Military Deaths In Iraq Top 1,700

CBS News, (CBS/AP), June 12, 2005 The military announced the killing of four more U.S. soldiers on Sunday, pushing the American death toll past 1,700, and police found the bullet-riddled bodies of 28 people - many thought to be Sunni Arabs - buried in shallow graves or dumped streetside in Baghdad.

Cheney: Guantanamo policy 'is the correct one'

CNN, June 13, 2005 -- Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday he doesn't believe revelations about the treatment of prisoners at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay have become an image problem for the United States and that the facility should not be shut down.

As terror tactic, suicide bombings spread to Afghanistan

LISA HOFFMAN, Scripps Howard News Service, June 13, 2005

WASHINGTON - The suicide bomb blast that injured four U.S. troops Monday fueled worries about the spread of a deadly terror tactic that, until recently, had been little seen in Afghanistan.
A driver in a taxi stuffed with explosives rammed into a U.S. military vehicle about six miles west of the southern city of Kandahar, an unsettled area long a bastion of Taliban support.
The attack was at least the third suicide blast since May in a country that has largely been spared the kamikaze tactics used across Iraq against American soldiers and, increasingly, Iraqi civilians.

Insurgents in Iraq Go on Killing Spree

PATRICK QUINN, Associated Press Writer, The Guardian, Saturday June 11, 2005 10:16 PM

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A former commando in the feared Wolf Brigade blew himself up after sneaking into the morning roll call at the unit's heavily fortified headquarters Saturday, one of a series of weekend insurgent attacks that killed at least 35 people including youngsters waiting to buy sandwiches and ice cream. Near the Syrian border, Marine airstrikes wiped out a band of 40 heavily armed militants.

Iraq raids 'kill 40 insurgents'

BBC News, Sunday, 12 June, 2005, 03:23 GMT 04:23 UK
About 40 insurgents have been killed by air and ground strikes in western Iraq, according to the US military.
In a statement, it said US marines backed by aircraft and helicopters had attacked several groups of armed insurgents close to the Syrian border.

Memo: U.S. Lacked Full Postwar Iraq Plan

Walter Pincus, Washington Post Staff Writer, Sunday, June 12, 2005; Page A01

A briefing paper prepared for British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his top advisers eight months before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq concluded that the U.S. military was not preparing adequately for what the British memo predicted would be a "protracted and costly" postwar occupation of that country.

Interrogating Ourselves

By JOSEPH LELYVELD, New York Times Magazine, June 12, 2005.
Whether we like it or not, detainees in the war on terrorism will be subjected to lies, threats and highly coercive force. Can we draw lines and set rules about techniques and approaches? Do we want to?

GWOT Speech Archive

• Selected Speeches by President George W. Bush
• Remarks by the President on the War on Terror, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, July 12, 2004.
• Text of President Bush's press conference at the White House, April 13, 2004
• Remarks by the President on Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, March 19, 2004
• Remarks by the President on the Capture of Saddam Hussein, December 14, 2003
• President Bush's Acceptance Speech to the Republican National Convention, September 2, 2004
• Text of speech on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, May 1, 2003.
• President Bush Addresses the Nation, March 19, 2003.
• Remarks by the President in Address to the Nation, March 17, 2003
• Remarks by the President on Iraq, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 7, 2002.
• Remarks by the President at 2002 Graduation Exercise of the United States Military Academy, June 1, 2002
• Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People, September 20, 2001.
• President's Remarks at National Day of Prayer and Remembrance, Washington, D.C, September 14, 2001.

• Selected Speeches by Senator John F. Kerry
• Speech at New York University, September 20, 2004
• Remarks by John F. Kerry to the American Legion, September 1, 2004
• Text of John Kerry's Acceptance Speech at the Democratic National Convention, July 29, 2004

• Other Notable Speeches

• Remarks by Sen. Zell Miller to the Republican National Convention, September 1, 2004
• 2004 Keynote address at the Democratic National Convention by Illinois Senate Candidate Barack Obama, July 27, 2004.

Ten-Hut! The Army's Bungling Recruitment

Don Edwards, Washington Post.com, Sunday, June 12, 2005; Page B05

Nearly every day, anywhere from one to several U.S. soldiers or Marines die in Iraq, and even more are wounded. The news doesn't always make the front pages anymore, but the casualty rate has apparently registered deeply in the consciousness of young Americans and their families. The result is a dangerous decline in new enlistments that is depleting U.S. military resources and weakening our capacity to face additional conflicts or threats from abroad.

Bush Urges Renewal of Patriot Act

Edwin Chen, Los Angeles Times, June 10, 2005

COLUMBUS, Ohio — President Bush on Thursday called on Congress to extend portions of the USA Patriot Act due to expire at the end of the year, calling them vital law enforcement tools in the war against terrorism.
"Letting those provisions expire would leave law enforcement in the dark," Bush said in an address at the Ohio State Highway Patrol Academy. "All 16 provisions are practical, important and they are constitutional. Congress needs to renew them all and this time … make the provisions permanent."

Bush names director of new counterterrorism center

Reuters, 10 Jun 2005 16:16:40 GMT
WASHINGTON, June 10 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush said on Friday he would nominate John Redd, a vice admiral who helped manage the U.S. occupation of Iraq, to head a fledgling national counterterrorism center that critics say has struggled to get up and running.

Bush's Optimism On Iraq Debated

By Jim VandeHei and Peter Baker, Washington Post, June 5, 2005; Page A01

President Bush's portrayal of a wilting insurgency in Iraq at a time of escalating violence and insecurity throughout the country is reviving the debate over the administration's Iraq strategy and the accuracy of its upbeat claims.

While Bush and Vice President Cheney offer optimistic assessments of the situation, a fresh wave of car bombings and other attacks killed 80 U.S. soldiers and more than 700 Iraqis last month alone and prompted Iraqi leaders to appeal to the administration for greater help. Privately, some administration officials have concluded the violence will not subside through this year.

Poll Finds Dimmer View of Iraq War

By Dana Milbank and Claudia Deane, Washington Post Staff Writers Wed Jun 8, 1:00 AM ET

For the first time since the war in Iraq began, more than half of the American public believes the fight there has not made the United States safer, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Cheney : Treaty won't end GWOT

War on Terror Won't End With Treaty
From the Armed Forces Press Service and DefenseLink.

The purpose of the site

Is to identify and archive public resources related to the global war on terror.

Iraq insurgency in 'last throes,' Cheney says

CNN, Monday, June 20, 2005; Posted: 12:19 p.m. EDT (16:19 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The insurgency in Iraq is "in the last throes," Vice President Dick Cheney says, and he predicts that the fighting will end before the Bush administration leaves office.
In a wide-ranging interview Monday on CNN's "Larry King Live," Cheney cited the recent push by Iraqi forces to crack down on insurgent activity in Baghdad and reports that the most-wanted terrorist leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, had been wounded.
The vice president said he expected the war would end during President Bush's second term, which ends in 2009."
I think we may well have some kind of presence there over a period of time," Cheney said. "The level of activity that we see today from a military standpoint, I think, will clearly decline. I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency.