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Bush Promises To Send More Troops To Afghanistan

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The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 3, 2008

WASHINGTON - WASHINGTON - Grappling with a record death toll in an overshadowed war, President Bush promised Wednesday to send more U.S. troops into Afghanistan by year's end. He conceded that June was a "tough month" in the nearly 7-year-old war.

In fact, it was the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since the conflict began.

"One reason why there have been more deaths is because our troops are taking the fight to a tough enemy, an enemy who doesn't like our presence there because they don't like the idea of America denying safe haven to terrorists," Bush said. "Of course there's going to be resistance."

Bush said it was a tough month, too, for the Taliban. But the once-toppled Islamist regime in Afghanistan has now rebounded with deadly force.

More U.S. and NATO troops have died in the past two months in Afghanistan than in Iraq, a place with triple the number of U.S. and coalition forces.

In June, 28 U.S. troops died in Afghanistan. That was the highest monthly total of the entire war, which began in October 2001.

For the full U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan the death toll was 46, also the highest of the war.

Bush confronted the grim direction of the Afghanistan conflict during a Rose Garden appearance.

He also used the event to tout his agenda for an upcoming Group of Eight meeting in Japan with world leaders, then addressed Iran, climate change and gasoline prices in a short session with reporters.

The Pentagon predicts that the pace of attacks in Afghanistan by a resurgent Taliban is likely to rise this year, despite U.S.-led efforts to capture key leaders.

"We're going to increase troops by 2009," Bush said, without offering details about exactly when or how many.

It amounted to a reiteration of a promised buildup of U.S. troops in Afghanistan by Bush. He said coalition forces have doubled in size over two years, and pledged the twin strategy of fighting extremists and supporting Afghanistan's civil development "is going to work."

Overall, about 32,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan, including 14,000 serving with NATO forces and 18,000 conducting training and counterinsurgency.

On other topics:

•Bush said that he wants a multi-country diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff with Iran, but will not remove the option of a military strike.

Asked directly about the possibility of an Israeli strike against Iran, Bush said, "I have made it very clear to all parties that the first option ought to be solve this problem diplomatically."

• Bush blasted the Democratic-led Congress for not advancing his energy proposals that include lifting a ban on offshore oil and gas drilling. The president even went so far as to ask Americans to get involved in a lobbying effort. "They ought to be writing their Congress people about it," he said.

•Bush said that he hoped the G-8 leaders would come to terms on long-range goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. He said that should come first, before an attempted agreement on shorter-range goals for cutting emissions, a matter of higher priority for many European nations.

•Bush said he will urge other nations to make good on earlier pledges to help alleviate malaria, HIV-AIDS and other diseases in the developing world. "We need people who not only make promises, but write checks, for the sake of human rights and human dignity, and for the sake of peace," he said.

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