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.
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.
posted by Gordon Stables | 12:11 PM
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