Monday, May 24, 2004
Bush to present a clear message...have you heard this guy talk?
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Facing political discord over the war in Iraq, President Bush tries to reassure voters Monday that hundreds of Americans have not died in vain, and to tell the world he has a blueprint to create a democratic nation.
Five months before the U.S. election and just five weeks before the June 30 hand-off of political power in Iraq, Bush travels late Monday to the Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., to give the first in a series of speeches about the future of Iraq. Bush will give a televised speech tonight.
Earlier in the day, the United States and Britain presented a new U.N. resolution that would transfer "governing authority" in Iraq to a sovereign interim government by June 30 and authorize a multinational force to maintain peace with Iraqi consent.
Meanwhile, a roadside bomb in Baghdad destroyed a civilian car with armor plating near an entrance to the headquarters of the U.S.-led coalition, killing two Britons and injuring two other people.
Worldwide attention is focused on the transfer of sovereignty next month, but the president is expected to lay out a timeline in Iraq that extends until elections are held early next year.
He was to offer a "clear strategy" for getting there, but was not expected to address the question of when American troops will return from Iraq, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Monday.
With an eye on the future, Bush's prime-time speech will address two issues dominating U.S. efforts in Iraq: The creation of a new Iraqi interim government, whose leaders are to be announced within days, and ways to improve security in areas of Iraq still rife with violence.
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