Tim Reid in Washington
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President Bush warned Iran yesterday that if it did not stop arming and training Shia militia in Iraq then “America will act to protect our interests and our troops”.
During a speech in which he ordered an indefinite halt to US troop withdrawals from Iraq this summer, Mr Bush called Iran one of the two greatest threats to America in this century, together with al-Qaeda. His words echoed testimony from General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, to Congress this week in which he described Iranian-backed Shia groups and the “malevolent” influence of Tehran as the biggest long-term threat to a viable Iraq.
Mr Bush said that he was following General Petraeus’s advice to halt withdrawals after July, when troop levels have been reduced to 140,000, roughly the same number deployed in Iraq before last year’s surge of additional troops. He said that General Petraeus — who called the situation in Iraq too fragile for further withdrawals — would have “all the time he needs” to evaluate further pullouts.
The decision means that Mr Bush’s successor will inherit Iraq with up to 140,000 troops still deployed.
Mr Bush spoke two hours after Ryan Crocker, the US Ambassador to Iraq, said that Washington was ready for talks with Iran. “We are prepared to do that,” he said. “If the Iranians are ready to sit we are going to point out what they are doing to undermine Iraqi security.”
Mr Bush announced that he would seek to relieve the heavy strain on the army by reducing the length of combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan to 12 months, down from the current level of 15 months. The change would take effect on August 1, and would affect US forces already deployed on the front lines.
Colin Powell, Mr Bush’s former Secretary of State and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Gulf War, gave warning that the US military was “very, very stretched” by its commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan.” The burden would be “extremely difficult” for the US to sustain, he said.
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If d government of Iran had d military power of d US no one would live in comfort & experience a peaceful world. This totalitarian regime has muffled the voice of democracy in Iran, backed terrorists groups in the Middle East & never been a reliable source for any information about Iran .
Maryam, Tehran, Iran
If US acted for its interest it may be understandable but when it acted arrograntly & unilaterally against universal norms it must be opposed. For d sake of mankind, the US with most nukes should take that first step to reduce its arsenal for gradual world disarmament. Will this happen????
Lim, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
USA is d world's only superpower with d most number of Nukes. It also has d world's most advance technology. Iran is believed to be developing nukes but this has not been proven. If yes, it still lacks an effective delivery system. Who is the threat to peace? US has used nukes b4 & threatens others.
Lim, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Just like iraq was? what a heap of crock! Bush himself is the biggest threat to the world ecomony with his brainless idea's, activities and his war hawk cabinet circling around him for new countries to invade and plunder for oil
Liam, Edinburgh, Scotland
Hey Bush, get your facts right.
The regime in Iran is your biggest threat not the nation of Iran. Most Iranian people are also
hostage to this god cursed dictatorial mullah regime. Keep this distinction clearly in your outbursts and don't forget that your actions are being watched by many Iranians whom are trapped between a dictatorial regime and a bligerent West.
Kaveh, London, UK
This is coming from the same people who were 100% convinced of WMDs in Iraq. I almost typed "administration" then I remembered that it is NOT the same administration, as practically everyone whose hands were stained red with blood from this war, has since comfortably retired to cushy jobs. They've been replaced by another batch of loyal cronies. Bush will be honored as a hero when he's gone, whatever history says, while the rest of America goes down the drain. He certainly won't suffer from post traumatic stress disorder from his 4th deployment to war, as the closest he ever came was a 4am surprise visit to Baghdad for champagne and caviar.
Ben, FL,
it was afghanistan first then iraq then north korea and now iran and soon venzuela. what is it with usa that has so many enemies everywhere,what on earth are they up to?
well they have to have enemies and if they don't have one create one to justify their state of the economy.
ebbi britt, valencia,
"Since when did it become the responsibility of the United States to 'police' Iraq".
When your lot with the other crusader, Tony Blair, decided to set in motion the chain reaction that has led to 400 - 600,000 deaths mainly of civilians. However, right wing nut jobs like you don't consider them as human becuase they are different from you.
The only WMD's found were the wish of Israel to have all Arabs (Christians & Muslims) cleansed and the cheap oil that is going to be used in your SUV's to choke the rest of the world.
Of course the Iranians are going to pursue advanced weapons. They look at Iraq which had non and was destroyed and Korea, which had them & is still sticking two fingers up. Any government would seek defence when being sorrounded by an enemy intent on stealing it's resources and committing genocide of it's citizens (be it autocratic, democratic or run by the military/industrial complex)
Peter, Solihull,
Hitler declared war on the US one or two days after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. We responded by acknowledging their was a state of war between us.
Wallace Edward Brand, Alexandria, VA, US
where does this ignorant belief amongst Americans come from that Europe cannot protect itself?
Because Europe can't. 1st. NATO is dominated by America, and America is the muscle behind it; if in fact the US was to pull out of NATO it would completely crumble. You claim that combined Europe has a larger military than teh U.S. counterpart; thats true, but thats irrelevent. The US is the primary party in all NATO actions, hands down. 2nd. Who cares about U.N. veto powers? If it did indeed actually mean something, then i geuss there would be no Iraq war right?
And Britain is NOT the 2nd most powerful military in the world, that title belongs to Russia
Kevin, London, UK
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