13 April 2004

by Anai Rhoads

AnaiRhoads.org - In his third presidential news conference, President Bush repeated his stance on the current situation on Iraq in under seventeen minutes. While he believes American troops should remain in Iraq, he also stated that the U.S. will withdraw on 30 June as planned when power is transferred over to the Iraqis.

Reporters from several major newspapers and other media outlets were ready and waiting to throw questions at the President. One reporter asked how Bush would feel if his decision to invade Iraq would cost him his job, he replied, "I don't plan to lose my job."

A total of fifteen questions were asked, ten of which were based on Iraq. The majority of the time was eaten away by Bush's emotional fillers and repetition. Some viewed this as an opportunistic marketing ploy to sway voters while cutting away at the time journalists had for questions.

Roughly 83 U.S. forces have been slaughtered in Iraq with more than 560 wounded this month alone and 678 troops have died since the war began on 19 March 2003. Over 100,000 troops are currently stationed in the war-torn country. More than 10,000 Iraqis have been caught in the cross-fire since the beginning of the war.

Bush admitted that Iraqis are unhappy with the occupation, "Iraqis don't want to be occupied, I wouldn't want to be occupied."

Although Bush's comments about the U.S. death-toll in Iraq was frank and full of emotion, he did not mention his absence at military burials nor did he discuss the October 2003 article in the Washington Post that claimed the Pentagon enforced a ban on all media-related photographs of coffins. The reality is too grim to bear for public as well as the President.

This was Bush's first prime-time media conference since 06 March 2003. The only other time Bush spoke publicly like this was 11 October 2001 to discuss the 9-11 attacks.

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