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March 19, 2008

Bush, Obama, Clinton Turn Attention to Iraq War
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1B97D6F:A6F02AD83191E1603B67A746458395E621A4E82C900CD027& President prepares
to deliver speech at Pentagon saying war has been a success;
Democratic presidential contenders to focus on war during campaign
stops in Pennsylvania * Listen to the President's speech LIVE on VOA
News Now radio, or here on VOANews.com, Wednesday at 1400 UTC (10 am
EDT) 







President Bush speaks about the war in Iraq at the Pentagon in
Washington, D.C., 19 Mar 2008President Bush will mark the fifth
anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq with a speech Wednesday,
defending the war and warning that withdrawal would hand victory to
terrorists.

In speech excerpts the White House released Tuesday, Mr. Bush
acknowledges that the U.S. has paid a "high cost in lives and
treasure," and that there is a debate over whether the war was worth
fighting.

But in a speech at the Pentagon Wednesday, Mr. Bush will say the war
has been a success, especially since the deployment of an additional
30,000 U.S. troops last year to quell sectarian violence. He will say
the troop increase has led to "a major strategic victory" where Arabs
are turning against what he calls the "grim ideology" of Osama bin
Laden.







Senators Hillary Clinton (l) and Barack Obama (Feb 2008 file
photo)U.S. Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary
Clinton also will focus on the Iraq war during campaign stops
Wednesday.

Obama will deliver a major speech on foreign policy in the
southeastern state of North Carolina, while Clinton is to hold a
question-and-answer session with military veterans in West Virginia.

During a campaign event in Pennsylvania Tuesday, Clinton repeated her
pledge to begin withdrawing U.S. forces out of Iraq within 60 days of
taking office.

The winner of the Democratic party race between Obama and Clinton will
face the presumed Republican nominee, John McCain, in the November
election. McCain is a staunch supporter of the Iraq war and the
continued deployment of U.S. troops there.



Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.


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