‘We must not fail in Iraq’

President Bush pleaded with Congress last night to give his new strategy for victory in the struggle in Iraq a chance because “America must not fail in Iraq.”

Defeat in Iraq, he said, would be “grievous and far-reaching” because the fighting in Iraq is part of a broader struggle against Islamic extremists across the Middle East and stretching to the farther reaches of the globe.

He proposed wide-ranging domestic goals in his 50-minute State of the Union address, proposing to balance the budget with no new taxes over the next five years, slash gasoline consumption by 20 percent over the next 10 years, double the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to 1.5 billion barrels of oil over the next 20 years, offer tax benefits for Americans who buy their own health insurance, create a “temporary worker program” as the first step in comprehensive immigration reform and “remain a clear voice for freedom” in Cuba, Belarus and Burma.

The domestic goals were relatively modest, but the president was at his most impassioned in arguing that the war in Iraq must not be abandoned.

America faces “a generational struggle that will continue long after you and I have turned our duties over to others,” he said. “That is why it is important to work together so our nation can see this great effort through.

“For all of us in this room, there is no higher responsibility than to protect the people of this country from danger. … To win the war on terror, we must take the fight to the enemy. Both parties and both branches should work in close consultation.”

Democrats, who now control both the House and the Senate, sat quietly as Republicans stood in a raucous ovation when the president declared “nothing is more important at this moment in our history than for America … to succeed in Iraq.” Vice President Dick Cheney often stood to applaud as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi remained seated, unsmiling.

Mr. Bush avoided a focus on major initiatives on contentious matters that divide the two parties, as he did in 2005, for example, when he made major Social Security reform a central theme of his speech, only to see it fail.

He focused instead on Democrat-friendly issues, calling on Congress to enact immigration reform this year, set up new health care tax breaks by 2009, increase the military by nearly 100,000 members in the next five years, double the Strategic Petroleum Reserve by 2027 and cut congressional earmarks in half in the next fiscal year.

As he did two weeks ago, the president said the only way to secure the war-torn country is to send in thousands of additional troops.

“Our military commanders and I have carefully weighed the options. We discussed every possible approach. In the end, I chose this course of action because it provides the best chance of success. Many in this chamber understand that America must not fail in Iraq — because you understand that the consequences of failure would be grievous and far-reaching,” he said.

Democrats, many of whom support resolutions of opposition to the president’s plan, quickly repeated their opposition in the wake of the speech.

“The president took us into this war recklessly,” said Sen. James H. Webb of Virginia, who has been in office less than a month, who delivered the Democratic response. “The majority of the nation no longer supports the way this war is being fought; nor does the majority of our military. We need a new direction,” including “strong regionally based diplomacy” and “a formula that will in short order allow our combat forces to leave Iraq.”

The president urged Congress to unite in the struggle against international terrorism as Americans did in the days after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

“We went into this largely united — in our assumptions and in our convictions. And whatever you voted for, you did not vote for failure. Our country is pursuing a new strategy in Iraq, and I ask you to give it a chance to work,” Mr. Bush said. “And I ask you to support our troops in the field, and those on their way.”

Story Continues →