PHILADELPHIA, U.S. (Reuters):
UNITED STATES President George W. Bush said yesterday about 30,000 Iraqis have been killed since the Iraq war began but insisted this week's election would be part of a Middle East turning point.
"No nation in history has made the transition to a free society without facing challenges, setbacks and false starts," Bush said in a speech and question-and-answer session at the World Affairs Council, striking a more realistic tone than he has sometimes in the past.
The speech was Bush's third in a series leading up to the election as he tries to bolster support for his Iraq strategy in hopes of bringing home some U.S. troops next year if Iraqi military forces are ready to fight the insurgency.
He needs a relatively smooth showing during Thursday's election in Iraq to hold up as a sign of progress and try to counter daily news of suicide bombings and U.S. troop deaths. More than 2,100 soldiers have died.
Bush predicted insurgent violence would not end with the election and said much work remains to make Iraq's fledging democracy inclusive to all.
"This week's elections won't be perfect, and a successful vote is not the end of the process. Iraqis still have more difficult work ahead," he said, adding, "These enemies aren't going to give up because of a successful election."
TURNING POINT
Still, he said, with Iraqis turning out three times in crucial votes, "the year 2005 will be recorded as a turning point in the history of Iraq, the history of the Middle East, and the history of freedom."
It was the first time Bush has publicly offered such a bold estimate, but aides quickly pointed he was not offering an official figure.
Bush's statistics for the death toll among Iraqis were in the range given by Iraq Body Count, a U.S.-British non-governmental group, which currently says between 27,383 and 30,892 civilians - rather than all Iraqi citizens - have been killed in Iraq since the invasion.
Security incidents
(Reuters):
Following are security incidents reported in Iraq yesterday:
Fallujah: A suicide car bomber targeted a U.S. patrol as it passed through the city yesterday, killing himself and injuring one U.S. Marine.
Baghdad: A U.S soldier was killed when a patrol was struck by a roadside bomb, south of Baghdad.
Baghdad: Two civilians were killed and 15 others wounded, including five policemen, when a car bomb exploded near a police station in eastern Baghdad, police said.
Baghdad: Three policemen and a civilian were killed and nine people wounded in clashes between Iraqi police and gunmen in the western Ghazaliya district of Baghdad.
Baghdad: Seven Iraqi policemen were wounded in clashes with gunmen in Baghdad's western Amiriya district.
Ramadi: A U.S. soldier assigned to the Marines was killed on Sunday in a suicide car bomb attack, the U.S military said in a statement.
Baghdad: Police said they found the bodies of four people in southern Baghdad, yesterday. The families of the four told police they had been taken on Sunday by men posing as members of the Iraqi Major Crime Unit.
Nahrawan: Three civilians were wounded when a car bomb exploded near an Iraqi police check point in Nahrawan, a suburb in south-eastern Baghdad, police said.
