| Title | Bush Fails to Gain Pledges on Troops Or Funds for Iraq | |
| Date | Wednesday September 24, @04:51PM | |
| Author | admin | |
| Topic | Bush | |
| from the WP dept. | ||
Breaking: NBC Office bombed in Baghdad (09/25)
A bomb exploded on Thursday at a Baghdad hotel where U.S. television network NBC is based, killing a Somalian hotel worker and injuring two more people, hotel and NBC staff said
WP -September 24
By Dana Milbank and Colum Lynch
Bush's empty-handed departure after two days at the United Nations, combined with warnings from the military that it will soon need fresh U.S. troops to relieve those in Iraq, makes it increasingly likely that the U.S. military will have to rely on its own reservists to do the job -- a politically dicey move for Bush, whose domestic support already has declined because of the continuing instability in Iraq.
Compounding the pressure, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan is considering ordering the total withdrawal of U.N. personnel from Iraq, a step recommended by his top political and security advisers after two bombing attacks against the world body in Baghdad over the past month, according to U.N. and U.S. officials. A U.N. pullout would seriously undercut efforts to assign the United Nations a broader role in overseeing Iraq's political transition.
The White House, when it decided earlier this month to seek a new U.N. resolution, was hoping to quickly pass a measure that would encourage countries such as India, Pakistan and Turkey to send troops and others to provide money to support Iraq's reconstruction. But the administration discovered that other countries are not willing to commit the needed military power and funding unless the United States relinquishes more control than it is willing to give to the United Nations or the Iraqis.
Today, as leaders from Pakistan and Turkey raised fresh concerns about supplying soldiers, senior administration officials sought to reduce expectations for foreign help and an imminent Security Council resolution.
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printed from GlobalFreePress, Bush Fails to Gain Pledges on Troops Or Funds for Iraq on 2004-11-27 20:39:26