Bush report sharpens Iraq debate
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The White House says progress on eight of 18 'benchmarks' is a reason for optimism.
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Coral Gables, Fla. -- President Bush and Sen. John Kerry clashed repeatedly Thursday in a lively debate that highlighted their sharply contrasting views of the past and future of America&#39;s war in Iraq.
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Already scrambling to make up ground lost after last week's debate, US President George W. Bush's campaign was forced further on the defensive by reports that the White House knew before invading Iraq that key intelligence on the country's alleged nuclear weapons program was questionable.
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President Bush defended the invasion of Iraq on Thursday despite a new report rejecting a prime justification for it, while Democratic challenger John Kerry said Bush "aggrandized and fictionalized" the threat from Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
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The White House staunchly defended its Iraq policy Tuesday as new questions emerged about President Bush's prewar decisions and postwar planning. An impending weapons report undercut the administration's main rationale for the war, and the former head of the American occupation said the United States had too few troops in Iraq after the invasion.
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While many in Congress are pushing President Bush to alter course in Iraq by September if not sooner, his new status report on the war strongly implies that the administration believes its military strategy will take many more months to meet its goals.
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WILLIAMSBURG, Virginia  - President George W. Bush, speaking to House of Representatives Democrats he has battled for six years, said on Saturday said he welcomed a vigorous debate on his plans to increase U.S. combat troops in Iraq and he did not question the patriotism of critics.
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ST. LOUIS  - President Bush defended the invasion  of Iraq on Thursday despite a new report rejecting a prime  justification for it, while Democratic challenger John Kerry  said Bush "aggrandized and fictionalized" the threat from Iraqi  leader Saddam Hussein.
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British officials believe U.S. President George W. Bush went to war in Iraq last year because he wanted to complete his father's "unfinished business", the Daily Telegraph has reported.
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An intelligence report showing an   upsurge in Islamic militancy put the White House on the   defensive on Wednesday in an election-year debate over whether   President George W. Bush has made America safer.
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US President George W. Bush defended his call to invade Iraq ahead of a report expected to say that Saddam Hussein did not have the weapons used by the Bush administration to justify the war.
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President Bush on Saturday challenged what he called public "misimpressions" about Iraq as he battled a gloomy assessment of the war in an intelligence report and the fallout from a book portraying him as in denial over it.
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The assessment contrasted with statements by President George W. Bush before the invasion, when he cited a growing threat from Iraqâs weapons of mass destruction as the reason for overthrowing President Saddam Hussein.
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Congress required President Bush to submit an initial report to lawmakers by Sunday assessing whether the Iraqi government has made satisfactory progress toward achieving the benchmarks set for it. The breakdown of progress described in the Bush administration's report:
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The Bush administration is nearing the release of an interim report on 18 benchmarks for the Iraqi government, with fresh signs that some Republican senators are impatient with the White House plan for Iraq.
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Struggling to defend its Iraq policy, the Bush administration in a 23-page classified report points to limited progress being made by the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad, U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
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In his speech last night, President Bush made a case for progress in Iraq by citing facts and statistics that at times contradicted recent government reports or his own words.