Bush Asks for Careful Consideration and Patience

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19, 2005 — -- In a prime-time Oval Office address to the nation, President Bush asked Americans to "carefully consider" the stakes of the war in Iraq and asked for patience.

The president was more candid than usual in his assessment of the situation in Iraq and in acknowledging his critics. He said the work in Iraq had been "especially difficult -- more difficult than we expected" but said the only options were victory or defeat.

"Some look at the challenges in Iraq and conclude that the war is lost, and not worth another dime or another day. I don't believe that," he said.

But he also strongly stated that the United States was having successes. "Not only can we win the war in Iraq, we are winning the war in Iraq."

This was the first time the president addressed the nation from the Oval Office in a prime-time televised speech since March 2003 when he talked about the decision to go to war in Iraq. The speech follows four that he has given on Iraq in the last three weeks, each having a specific focus.

Last night's speech was meant to serve as a summation of all the previous speeches, a way for the president to talk directly to the American people and address two key arguments of critics of the war: immediate troop withdrawal and the idea of the U.S. presence in Iraq stirring up the terrorists.

Bush reached out to his critics to stay with him on Iraq. "I don't expect you to support everything I do, but tonight I have a request," Bush said. "Do not give in to despair, and do not give up on this fight for freedom."

He dismissed "defeatism" on the issue of Iraq by saying that it might have "partisan uses" but that it was not justified by the facts on the ground, which show rebuilding and hope.

Bush reiterated the three key elements to his administration's strategy for victory in Iraq: security, politics and reconstruction:

He again took responsibility for the flawed intelligence leading up to war in Iraq, for the second time in a week, but insisted that removing Saddam Hussein from power was still the right thing to do.

Bush also addressed the idea that the war in Iraq had made the United States less safe, a frequent accusation that critics throw at his administration. "My conviction comes down to this: We do not create terrorism by fighting the terrorists. We invite terrorism by ignoring them," he said.