Bush Goes on Offensive To Explain War Strategy

WP

....The initiative is modeled on a similar effort the White House rolled out in November and December, when Bush gave four speeches, acknowledging setbacks, pointing out how the military had adapted its strategy and highlighting the administration's plans for victory. That effort, coupled with the success of another round of elections in Iraq, helped the president's approval rating to rebound a little, before it fell again amid the latest wave of violence.

Bush's planned speeches on Iraq come as that nation's fledgling democracy is struggling to put together a unity government against a backdrop of intense sectarian violence. The bombing of a revered Shiite shrine in Samarra on Feb. 22 ignited a series of attacks and counterattacks that have killed hundreds and brought the nation to the brink of civil war.

"There are some who are trying to, obviously, sow the seeds of sectarian strife," Bush said, during remarks to a group of community newspaper publishers yesterday. "They fear the advancement of a democracy. They blow up shrines in order to cause this Iraqi democracy that is emerging to go backwards, to not emerge."

Bush praised Iraqis for so far not escalating the ongoing crisis into a full-fledged civil war. "As I said earlier, there was -- no question there was violence and killing, the society took a step back from the abyss," Bush said. "And people took a sober reflection about what a civil war would mean."