Bush Sees 'Incremental' Progress in Iraq
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President Bush on Monday embraced the new leadership in Iraq as a turning point in the war but claimed only gradual progress in years of fighting and acknowledged that Americans are uneasy about the outcome.
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President Bush said on Thursday a new strategy was required in Iraq that could include contacts with Iran and Syria and U.S. troop cuts, but he would await further reviews beyond the scathing Iraq Study Group report before determining a new way forward.
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CAMP PENDLETON, California, Dec 7  - President George W. Bush said Tuesday that Iraqi elections scheduled for late next month &quot;will proceed as planned,&quot; with some 150,000 US troops there to bolster security.
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President Bush on Wednesday consulted with Iraqi leaders for the fifth time in recent days about the Jan. 30 elections and the White House acknowledged the possibility that the newly elected government might seek a timetable for a withdrawal of U.S. forces.
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The security situation in Iraq is challenging and attacks could increase in coming months, a U.S. progress report said on Thursday as President George W. Bush faces rising pressure to shift course in the unpopular war.
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President Bush on Monday applauded what he called a promising sign of political progress by Iraqi leaders who said they had found common ground on some issues standing in the way of reconciliation.
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HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii  - President George W. Bush said on Saturday his resolve to press ahead with the effort to stabilize Iraq was as strong as ever, the latest indication he is unlikely to call for a major change in strategy when he delivers a report to Congress next week.
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President Bush reported progress in Iraq Friday, after hearing Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki brief him on steps being taken by the government in Baghdad. "We appreciate the fact that he's beginning to meet the benchmarks that he set out for his people," Bush said.
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Provincial reconstruction teams, the civilian centerpiece of the Bush administration's strategy in Iraq, are making "incremental" progress in some areas and very little in others, a government auditor told Congress yesterday.
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President Bush argued that his plan to begin gradually withdrawing some troops from Iraq was a âreturn on successâ that could be squandered by deeper and speedier reductions.
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WASHINGTON -- A widely anticipated White House report on Iraq, set for release today, contends that Iraq has made "satisfactory" progress toward nearly half of the political and military goals sought by Congress, while acknowledging that an equal number remain "unsatisfactory," an administration official said yesterday.
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CRAWFORD, Texas  - President Bush said on  Wednesday it was important that elections in Iraq proceed as  planned next month, despite festering security concerns and the  withdrawal of a top Sunni party.
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The U.S. commander in western Iraq said he agrees with the findings of a pessimistic classified report recently filed by his top intelligence officer but also insisted that "tremendous progress" is being made in that part of the country.
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President Bush, defending an unpopular war, ordered gradual reductions in U.S. forces in Iraq on Thursday night and said, "The more successful we are, the more American troops can return home."
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President Bush called Sunday's elections in Iraq a success and promised the United States will continue trying to prepare Iraqis to secure their own country.
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U.S.-funded reconstruction in Iraq  is gaining pace in some areas, albeit on a smaller scale than  hoped, despite mounting attacks and intimidation by insurgents,  said a senior U.S. official on Wednesday.
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Iraq's foreign minister said on Thursday the government had made progress in responding to U.S. goals for improved security and political reconciliation ahead of key reports soon to be delivered to the U.S. Congress.