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US PRESIDENT BACKS IRAQ PREMIER OVER FORCES November 30, 2006
Bonny Apunyu
(SomaliNet) The United States (U.S.) President George W. Bush on Thursday strongly backed Iraq's Prime Minister saying Iraqi forces would be prepared more quickly to take over security and that Washington was not looking for a "graceful exit".
The US leader supported Nuri al-Maliki as the "right guy" for Iraq at talks in Jordan amid spiralling sectarian bloodshed between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims that has overshadowed an already intractable Sunni insurgency in Iraq.
“Part of the prime minister's frustrations is that he doesn't have the tools necessary to take care of those who break the law," Bush said after the talks.
"We talked today about accelerating authority to the prime minister so he can do what the Iraqi people expect him to do," Bush told a joint news conference with Maliki.
U.S. troops were in Iraq to "get the job done" and would stay as long as the Baghdad government wanted them there.
"We agreed on the importance of speeding up the training of Iraq security forces," Bush said, touching on a long-standing U.S. goal of transferring control to Iraqis.
"It's in our interests to help liberty prevail in the Middle East, starting with Iraq. And that's why this business about graceful exit simply has no realism to it at all."
"On the one hand you want Iraqis to be in control as quickly as possible. On the other hand, you don't want them to find themselves unprepared or incapable of handling the situations as they arise," a U.S. official, who asked not to be named, said later the process was a delicate one, - Reuters.