Iraqi
women receive copies of the draft constitution that will
go before the nation for ratification in a referendum
to be held on October 15. "... Iraqis are showing
more and more capability to take the fight to the enemy.
And that's how we're going to succeed in helping democracy
become established in Iraq," says Bush at a press
briefing held at the White House Wednesday, October 5.
05 October 2005
White
House welcomes Iraqi decision to restore constitutional
referendum rules
Washington.
President
Bush said Iraqi forces are demonstrating “more and
more capability to take the fight to the enemy,”
and praised the role of 3,000 Iraqi soldiers who have
joined coalition troops in offensive operations against
insurgents.
Speaking
October 5 at the White House with Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld and Lieutenant General David Petraeus,
the former commander of Multinational Security and Transition
Command-Iraq, Bush said he and his advisers “fully
understand” that “insurgents and terrorists
… intend to disrupt the constitutional process …
as well as stop the progress of democracy.”
To
deal with that threat, the president said U.S. and coalition
troops are staying on the offensive, and he expressed
his pleasure that 3,000 Iraqi forces have joined the fight
and are “mak[ing] a difference on the battlefield.”
White
House press secretary Scott McClellan later compared the
status of Iraqi troops from one year ago, saying that
in 2004 “there were less than 50 Iraqi battalions
in various states of readiness” versus the approximately
88 army battalions now fighting alongside coalition forces,
including 30 that are taking the lead in operations in
places like Karbala, Najaf and parts of Baghdad.
In
his remarks, Bush thanked Petraeus, who until recently
was helping train Iraqi forces, and said that the large
numbers of Iraqi recruits only was part of the success.
“We've
got a quality control program in place to make sure that
the troops we train are capable of taking the fight to
the enemy,” Bush said. “Over 30 percent of
the Iraqi troops are in the lead on these offensive operations.
We've got troops embedded with them and it's important
for the training mission.”
Besides
progress in security, the president said the country is
making progress on the political front with the drafting
of Iraq’s Constitution, the upcoming October 15
national referendum on the document and subsequent elections
for a permanent government, assuming the constitution
is approved. (See Iraq’s Political Process.)
“[D]emocracy
is moving forward in a part of the world that is so desperate
for democracy and so desperate for freedom,” Bush
said.
Earlier,
press secretary McClellan welcomed the Iraqi National
Assembly’s decision to restore the original voting
rules for the referendum on the constitution, which will
allow the document to be vetoed if two-thirds of voters
in at least three provinces vote against it, despite majority
approval nationwide.
The
legislature previously had changed the interpretation
of the rules to require two-thirds of registered voters
in three provinces to vote against the document, regardless
of the level of voter turnout.
“The
Iraqi leaders found an Iraqi solution and we view it very
positively,” McClellan said.
Although
emphasizing that the decision was taken solely by Iraqi
leaders, McClellan said the Bush administration always
has encouraged Iraqis to “take steps that are consistent
with international standards and the transitional administrative
law.”
“[T]hey
should encourage broader political participation and the
vote today does that and we think that’s positive,”
he said.
McClellan
said later that the United States sees the draft constitution
as being a “strong” document.
State
Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Iraqis are currently
engaged in “a healthy political debate about their
future and … what political institutions, what laws,
what political documents are going to govern them.”
Encouraging
the “broadest possible participation,” McCormack
welcomed the participation of Sunnis and all Iraqi groups
in the political process, and said an increasing number
have shown their desire to participate.
“We
think that that's positive. This is a young democracy.
They are just getting started. And what they deserve and
what they need is our support,” he said.
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