Bush To Try To “Bring The Public Back” To The War

KWTX CBS


(January 10, 2007)--President Bush's overriding goal in his speech to the nation Wednesday night is to "bring the public back" to the war in Iraq, The White House says.

The speech will be carried live at 8 p.m. Wednesday on CBS and News Ten.

The crux of the president’s plan is a fresh infusion of US troops at a time when most Americans want those troops to start coming home.

White House spokesman Tony Snow says the president knows he must overcome widespread doubt and restore public confidence and support for the mission.

The president is expected to call for up to 20,000 additional troops to be sent into Iraq to bolster forces in the still volatile Anbar Province and in Baghdad, where thousands of soldiers from Fort Hood’s 1st Cavalry Division are serving as part of Multinational Division Baghdad.

He'll also call for reconstruction aid, diplomacy and benchmarks for the Iraqi government to meet.

Many Democrats oppose sending in more troops.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi promises a vote on any proposed troop increase, while Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he's hoping for a bipartisan measure that would declare, "We don't support this escalation of the war."

Mr. Bush is also expected to acknowledge mistakes in Iraq.

White House counselor Dan Bartlett says the president will say that it was a mistake not to have more US or Iraqi troops fighting the war at the beginning.

The president also will say that the terms under which US troops carried out earlier operations "were flawed."

Bartlett made the rounds of the morning talk shows ahead of Mr. Bush's prime-time address from the White House.

Bartlett says Mr. Bush agrees with the "vast majority" of Americans who are not satisfied with the progress being made in Iraq, so he will spell out what he intends to do about it.

The president's plans include pumping a billion dollars into Iraq's economy.