U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday said that the United States is making progress in Iraq, but U.S. troops still have to fight the Al Qaeda terror group. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Bush said that after the 2007 U.S. troop “surge” in Iraq, the United States has seen a decrease in civilian deaths, sectarian killings, and overall violence. Despite widespread support for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq, Bush said that it is important to “keep enough [U.S.] troops there to succeed.” Bush said that the United States' progress in Iraq cannot be overlooked, saying that “the same people [in the U.S. Congress] who once accused me of refusing to acknowledge setbacks in Iraq now are the ones who are refusing to acknowledge progress in Iraq.” He also added that currently, “reconciliation is taking place in local communities across the country [Iraq]. [And] that reconciliation is beginning to translate into political progress in the capital city [Baghdad].” During the conference, Bush also urged Congress to approve funding he has requested for the war, in order to “stand by our brave men and women in uniform and fully fund the troops.” Bush requested $189 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan operations for 2008, but only $87 billion has been approved. “Congress does need to act when it comes to Iraq,” because if they don't, the American people would be at risk, he said. Bush also touted the progress of “U.S. and Iraqi forces [that] have captured or killed thousands of extremists, including hundreds of key al Qaeda operatives and leaders.” He added that Al Qaeda's goal for the past four years was to find a safe haven for their group by creating “chaos and disorder” in a country and then taking power. But, he said that because of the work of joint U.S.-Iraqi troops, Al Qaeda is not safe in Iraq. Bush also pointed to the now week-long conflict between Iraq's northern Kurdistan region and Turkey. Turkey, who says their incursion is limited to targeting the Kurdistan Workers Party, (PKK), was pressed to leave the Iraqi territory as soon as possible by the Iraqi leadership. Bush also agreed saying that though Turkey, Iraq and the United States have a “common enemy in the PKK,” Turkey's incursion should be limited and temporary, and urged the country to “move quickly, achieve their objective and then get out [of Iraq]... as quickly as possible.”
