Policy Watch: Iraq and the war on terror

Abstract

"Unlike his earlier optimistic assessments of the situation in Iraq, President George W. Bush's Jan. 10 address to the nation painted a much grimmer picture of the complex problems that have emerged there. He also announced a change in American strategy, involving the deployment of some 22,000 additional American troops that he hopes will salvage the situation. But even the president seemed skeptical about how positive an outcome can be achieved. Despite the high human and financial sacrifices America will pay by staying in Iraq, the president believes the United States must do so because the consequences of withdrawing will be even more costly. Bush himself stated pointedly: ""Failure in Iraq would be a disaster for the United States.""