Debate Heats up With Approach of Iraq War's 4th Anniversary Le débat s'intensifie à l'approche du 4e anniversaire de la guerre en Irak

Critics of the Bush administration's Iraq policy include Democratic Senator John Kerry, who was his party's presidential candidate in 2004. Les critiques de la politique de l'administration Bush en Irak incluent le sénateur démocrate John Kerry, qui était le candidat présidentiel de son parti en 2004. He blasted the White House for sending more U.S. Il a fustigé la Maison Blanche pour avoir envoyé plus d'Américains troops to Iraq, and said he believes there is no military solution to the ongoing violence in the country.

"I get really angry. I heard about those four soldiers killed today and I say to myself, as someone who remembers going out on patrols that sort of had a huge question mark over them, what are we doing? J'ai entendu parler de ces quatre soldats tués aujourd'hui et je me dis, en tant que quelqu'un qui se souvient d'avoir participé à des patrouilles qui avaient en quelque sorte un énorme point d'interrogation sur eux, qu'est-ce qu'on fait? What are these kids doing, going out there and finding an IED [improvised explosive device] the hard way?" Que font ces enfants, qui sortent et trouvent un IED [engin explosif improvisé] à la dure ? » [ said John Kerry. ]

The four U.S. troops were killed Sunday by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. Des soldats ont été tués dimanche par une bombe placée en bordure de route à Bagdad.

In an effort to quell the violence, the White House in January said it is sending 21,500 additional U.S. Dans un effort pour réprimer la violence, la Maison Blanche a déclaré en janvier qu'elle enverrait 21 500 soldats américains supplémentaires troops to Iraq. More recently, the Bush administration announced it is sending 4,700 more troops to Iraq, mostly to serve in a support capacity.

The Bush administration's policy was praised by White House National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. La politique de l'administration Bush a été saluée par le conseiller à la sécurité nationale de la Maison Blanche, Stephen Hadley. Speaking on the ABC television program This Week, he acknowledged that some Iraqis want the U.S. military presence to be, in his words, "over." "But the point is we need to get it in a position where the Iraqis can take responsibility for security successfully. "Mais le fait est que nous devons le placer dans une position où les Irakiens peuvent assumer avec succès la responsabilité de la sécurité. Because if we do not and we do a premature withdrawal, then what we have is a situation where, if the Iraqi forces cannot handle the situation, which is the case now, we have Iraq as a safe haven for terrorists, who will destabilize the neighbors and attack us." Parce que si nous ne le faisons pas et que nous procédons à un retrait prématuré, alors nous nous retrouvons dans une situation où, si les forces irakiennes ne peuvent pas gérer la situation, ce qui est le cas actuellement, nous avons l'Irak comme refuge pour les terroristes, qui déstabiliseront le voisins et nous attaquer." [ said Stephen Hadley. ]

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates appeared on the CBS television program Face the Nation to urge critics to wait and see whether the White House's latest troop surge plan is effective. "General Petraeus, the commander out there, has said it will probably be summer before we know whether we are being successful or not. But I would say that the Iraqis are meeting the commitments they have made to us." [ said Robert Gates. ]

Democratic congressman and prominent critic of the Iraq war, John Murtha, indicated his distrust of the Bush administration's management, in an appearance on CNN's Late Edition. "Every time they say there is progress, it turns out there is no progress and then they have to backtrack. "Chaque fois qu'ils disent qu'il y a des progrès, il s'avère qu'il n'y a pas de progrès et ils doivent revenir en arrière. For instance, they say everything is getting better, yet oil production, electricity production are all below pre-war levels. Par exemple, ils disent que tout s'améliore, pourtant la production de pétrole, la production d'électricité sont toutes en dessous des niveaux d'avant-guerre. Incidents have increased outside Baghdad." [ said Congressman Murtha. ]

He said he believes something dramatic needs to be done in order for the situation to get better. He is among supporters of legislation in the House of Representatives that includes a deadline of September 2008 for U.S. Il est parmi les partisans de la législation à la Chambre des représentants qui comprend une date limite de septembre 2008 pour les États-Unis troops to be withdrawn from Iraq.

Meanwhile, thousands of people demonstrated in Washington Saturday to show their opposition to the Iraq War. There were others demonstrating in support.

Protests are expected to continue in the United States and elsewhere in the world before Tuesday's four-year anniversary of the start of the war.