Bush Sees ‘Irresponsible Debate’ Over War in Iraq

President Bush on Tuesday criticized what he called “irresponsible debate” in the United States over the war in Iraq, where he forecast political progress but also “more tough fighting.”

He also called on Iraq’s Sunnis and Shiites to end their sectarian division, and for Sunnis to cease their insurgency and participate in the nascent political life there.

Bush said the war’s critics should stop questioning the motives that led him to launch the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

“The American people know the difference between responsible and irresponsible debate when they see it.... And they know the difference between a loyal opposition that points out what is wrong, and defeatists who refuse to see that anything is right,” Bush said.

“I ask all Americans to hold their elected leaders to account and demand a debate that brings credit to our democracy -- not comfort to our adversaries,” Bush said.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) said it was the White House that had twisted the Iraq debate by attacking critics and sidelining a general and a White House economic aide who had offered prewar predictions that the invasion would require more troops and money than the administration estimated.

“I wholeheartedly agree with President Bush about the need for accountability in the debate on the war in Iraq,” Kennedy said in a statement.

Kennedy said the administration had been “firing or ignoring those who spoke the truth about Iraq, and rewarding those who manipulated the facts and were so obviously wrong about the war.”

Karen Finney, the Democratic National Committee’s communications director, said “the Bush administration’s attack, distract and distort tactics reflect a Nixonian paranoia that is un-American.”

Bush, in a 45-minute address to a welcoming audience of about 425 members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and their supporters, outlined the United States’ goals for Iraq in 2006, forecasting expanded political progress and security efforts.

The speech at a Washington hotel continued a series of addresses Bush began at the end of last year, reflecting an attempt to turn around lagging public support for the war by being more frank about the problems the United States is facing in Iraq, while also staying optimistic.

The president is scheduled to continue the effort today in Louisville, Ky., where he will hold what the White House is presenting as a discussion on U.S. anti-terrorism efforts.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan declined to specify which critics Bush was referring to when he talked about “irresponsible debate” over the war.

In the past, White House officials have criticized comments by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, among others.

Bush told the veterans group that in fighting the war, the United States faced “an added challenge in the months ahead” because “the campaign season will soon be upon us, and that means our nation must carry on this war in an election year.”

He added: “There is a vigorous debate about the war in Iraq today, and we should not fear the debate.... Yet we must remember there is a difference between responsible and irresponsible debate. And it’s even more important to conduct this debate responsibly when American troops are risking their lives overseas.”

He said that when soldiers in a battle zone heard politicians questioning their mission, “it hurts their morale.”

In a new surge in violence, 120 Iraqis have been killed in suicide bombings in the last week in Karbala and Ramadi, and 29 were killed in an attack in Baghdad on Monday, Associated Press reported. Since the Dec. 15 elections, 498 Iraqis and 54 Americans have been killed.

Bush said that the increased violence reflected the insurgents’ efforts to undermine their opponents’ political successes, not weaknesses in security.

He called on Iraqis to reach out, as some did during the three rounds of elections last year, “across political and religious and sectarian lines and form a government of national unity that gives voice to all Iraqis.”

“It’s important that Sunnis who abandoned violence to join the political process now see the benefits of peaceful participation,” Bush said in a message directed at the Shiite majority.

He added: “Sunnis need to learn how to use their influence constructively in a democratic system to benefit their community and the country at large.” The Shiites and Kurds, he said, “need to understand that successful free societies protect the rights of minorities against the tyranny of the majority.”