President Says June 30 Remains Deadline for Iraq Power Transfer

Breaking his silence after the bloodiest week of the yearlong occupation of Iraq, President Bush said Saturday that U.S. forces were taking control of Fallouja “block by block,” and allied troops were “finding and engaging the enemy” elsewhere in the country.

Bush warned in a prerecorded radio address that the military offensive against the widespread insurgency could rage for weeks. But he reaffirmed his commitment to the June 30 deadline for transferring sovereignty to Iraqis, despite reservations expressed by some lawmakers.

The president’s progress report was meant to shore up support for the war amid signs of growing concern about changing circumstances in Iraq, such as the kidnapping of civilians by insurgents and expressions of discontent by members of the Iraqi governing council. A new poll showed support slipping for Bush’s course of action.

The radio message was also designed to demonstrate Bush’s personal engagement in the war effort after several days of letting other administration officials handle public responses to the escalating hostilities. The president is on a previously scheduled, weeklong stay at his ranch near here.

Bush’s war update was brief and general in nature. He taped the radio address Friday afternoon, and the White House was wary about the possibility of events in Iraq overtaking Bush’s remarks, which were broadcast Saturday morning.

The president left Washington on Monday, and has stayed out of sight since returning Tuesday from a speech in Arkansas, even as the death toll mounted in Iraq and as his administration’s actions before the 2001 terrorist attacks came under intense scrutiny. He spent part of Friday afternoon fishing on the ranch pond -- an outing filmed for the Outdoor Life Network program “Fishing with Roland Martin” -- but canceled a scheduled second round on Saturday.

Bush’s reticence has generated anxiety among some Republicans, who think the president’s voice needs to be heard more forcefully amid the difficult circumstances. He will have several opportunities to allay those concerns in coming days including scheduled news conferences with three visiting foreign leaders.

On Thursday, national security advisor Condoleezza Rice testified publicly for three hours before the 9/11 commission, defending the administration against charges that it did not adequately focus on the threat from Al Qaeda before terrorists struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon with hijacked passenger jets. The commission, which also took private testimony last week from President Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore, was scheduled this week to hear from top FBI officials as well as Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft.

The Bush administration agreed to declassify and release the top-secret Aug. 6, 2001, president’s daily brief that is said to contain a warning that Al Qaeda was trying to send operatives into the U.S. to mount an attack.

Although he has stayed out of public view, Bush has kept abreast of the events in Iraq and the ongoing investigation of his counterterrorism policies and actions before and after the Sept. 11 attacks.

White House officials said the president, joined by his wife, Laura, watched all of Rice’s testimony, then telephoned Rice to praise her performance. On Friday, Rice joined Bush and his family at the ranch.

Bush has presided over several secure video conferences with his national security team and war commanders in the field in recent days, according to White House officials. In addition, he has consulted with half a dozen world leaders.

Iraq, the Middle East and the war on terrorism continue to dominate Bush’s schedule. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is scheduled on Monday to visit Bush at his ranch. The president has scheduled White House meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Wednesday and British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Friday.

The president’s guests at the ranch this weekend included his parents and his mother-in-law. The first couple were scheduled to attend Easter services today at nearby Ft. Hood, as they did a year ago.

Bush’s terse and somewhat somber war update contrasted sharply with one of his standard lines in stump speeches, which he most recently uttered on Tuesday. During an appearance at the South Arkansas Community College in El Dorado, Ark., he declared: “We’re now marching to peace.”

In sticking with the June 30 deadline, the president cast aside growing concerns among lawmakers of both parties that a transfer of power in less than 12 weeks would be premature.

“Some have suggested that we should respond to the recent attacks by delaying Iraqi sovereignty. This is precisely what our enemies want. They want to dictate the course of events in Iraq and to prevent the Iraqi people from having a true voice in their future. They want America and our coalition to falter in our commitments before a watching world,” Bush said.

“In these ambitions, the enemies of freedom will fail. Iraqi sovereignty will arrive on June 30.”

Among lawmakers who’ve expressed doubt about the June 30 transfer date are Sens. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and Carl Levin (D-Mich.), the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee.

In his party’s weekly radio response to the president’s broadcast, Levin acknowledged that it may be too late to postpone the transfer of political power because “expectations have been created.” But he warned of the possibility of a civil war and greater violence against U.S. troops “if we restore sovereignty to an entity created by the United States that doesn’t have the support of the Iraqi people and the international community.”

Although the administration has remained resolute about handing over authority on June 30, it has not yet determined who will be on the receiving end. Coalition officials have enlisted U.N. special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi to negotiate with Iraqi leaders over forming an interim government, but its structure and membership remain unsettled.

Already, one member of the U.S.-backed Iraqi Governing Council has suspended his membership in the body, while a second has threatened to quit in protest of the U.S. siege of Fallouja. A third council member, one of the strongest pro-U.S. voices on the council, has denounced the U.S. offensive.

In the U.S., a new poll by Newsweek found that 51% of Americans disapprove of the way Bush is handling the situation in Iraq; 44% approve.

In his remarks broadcast Saturday, Bush referred only tangentially to the killings and kidnappings in Iraq last week, saying coalition forces have encountered “challenges.” But he said U.S. and allied troops had “taken the fight to the enemy,” and would press forward in the weeks ahead.

“Prisoners are being taken, and intelligence is being gathered. Our decisive actions will continue until these enemies of democracy are dealt with,” Bush said.

The president ascribed the uprisings to “a small faction” of Saddam Hussein loyalists, terrorists and “a band of thugs” who support “a radical named Muqtada Sadr.”

He said U.S. and coalition forces are mounting a “multi-city offensive” against the insurgents and are “finding and engaging the enemy.”

Bush vowed to help the interim regime rebuild Iraq’s economy and provide security. Noting that Iraq is scheduled to hold elections for a permanent government in late 2005, he added: “We will stand with the Iraqi people as long as necessary, to ensure that their young democracy is stable and secure and successful.”

As June 30 approaches, Bush warned, insurgents are likely to escalate their efforts to disrupt the transfer of power.

“We will continue to see a test of wills between the enemies of freedom and its defenders,” he concluded. “We will win this test of wills, and overcome every challenge, because the cause of freedom and security is worth our struggle.”