As the war in Iraq enters its sixth year, President Bush is calling it a noble, just and necessary battle.
In a speech at the Pentagon Wednesday morning, Bush said the troop increase he ordered last year has turned the situation in Iraq around, but speeding the pace of withdrawals could undermine it.
The U.S. has about 158,000 troops in Iraq. That number is expected to drop to 140,000 by summer.
Since the troop increase and with a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida in Iraq and a cease-fire declared by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, the number of attacks have declined, particularly in Baghdad.
Bush hailed those developments as "the first large-scale Arab uprising against Osama bin Laden." And he said it's leading the way toward what he called "a major strategic victory in the broader war on terror."
As the president spoke about the war, people across the county have been actively protesting the war. Police in Washington have arrested people who scaled fences and blocked streets in protest of the Iraq war.
At the entrance to the American Petroleum Institute in Washington, dozens of protesters held signs reading: "Out of Iraq" and "No blood for oil."
Retired college professor and Vietnam War veteran Craig Etchison said he's "appalled at the number of civilians" who've been killed -- saying it's like what happened in Vietnam.
Other protests and vigils are being held across the country.
College students are staging walkouts and students at the University of Minnesota have vowed to shut down military recruiting offices on campus.
In suburban Miami, a handful of protesters dressed in black waved anti-war signs at drivers stuck in early morning rush-hour traffic near the U.S. Southern Command complex.
In Nebraska, Sen. Ben Nelson issued a statement on the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war:
Five years ago, our nation acted to end the tyrannical reign of Saddam Hussein. In the years that followed, Saddam has been captured and brought to justice and a new government has been elected by the people of Iraq. Sadly, we have also lost almost 4,000 brave Americans, including 59 individuals with Nebraska ties. Today, we should all pause to honor their sacrifice and that of their families.
The end of Saddam's government did not mark the end of the war. Sectarian violence and civil strife, while less today, are still constant threats. Last year, the surge of American troops was meant to help bring down the violence so that the Iraqi government could begin the process of reconciliation. With a bipartisan group of senators, I authored and passed a series of benchmarks so that we could measure the progress of the Iraqis on the economic, political and security fronts.
Unfortunately, the reports back have not been promising. Last week, the commander of the U.S. forces in Iraq, General David Petreaus, reported in the media that sufficient progress by Iraqi leaders has not been made. I share his views. And without such political reconciliation, lasting stability is not possible.
It has been five years since the Iraq war started, more than four years since the capture of Saddam and almost two years since the current Iraqi government took office. It is time to send a very clear message to those Iraqi leaders -- they are accountable for the lack of progress and we will no longer provide them with a blank check.
We should instead begin the process of transitioning the mission in Iraq; allowing the Iraqis to take the lead in providing internal security and focus our U.S. forces on training Iraqi security forces, fighting Al Qaeda and other terrorist elements and protecting critical infrastructure. At the same time, the Iraqis must take ownership of their nation by contributing financially to their country's reconstruction and economic development. When Americans are paying record prices for gas, it makes no sense that Iraqi oil wealth is not being used to finance Iraqi needs.
Today, we should honor the hundreds of thousands of brave Americans who have served in Iraq over the last five years, the military families who have given so much and especially remember those who gave their lives in service to their nation. And we must also look forward to how we can best ensure the future security and stability of Iraq.
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