"We'll continue to be flexible and we'll make the changes necessary to succeed," the president said."There's one thing I'm not going to do, I'm not going to pull our troops off the battlefield before the mission is complete," he said in a speech setting the stage for high-stakes meetings with the Iraqi prime minister later this week. "We can accept nothing less than victory for our children and our grandchildren."In Riga to attend a NATO summit, Bush also enlisted renewed commitments from the NATO allies that have deployed 32,000 troops to Afghanistan. He said NATO commanders must have the resources and flexibility to do the job — an apparent reference to the fact that only a handful of countries — primarily Canada, Britain, the United States and the Netherlands — are doing much of the heavy lifting in the dangerous southern provinces against a resurgent Taliban.Bush pushed back against skeptics of his goal of spreading freedom across the Middle East. "I understand these doubts but I do not share them," the president said.
In Riga to attend a NATO summit, Bush also enlisted renewed commitments from the NATO allies that have deployed 32,000 troops to Afghanistan. He said NATO commanders must have the resources and flexibility to do the job — an apparent reference to the fact that only a handful of countries — primarily Canada, Britain, the United States and the Netherlands — are doing much of the heavy lifting in the dangerous southern provinces against a resurgent Taliban.A bipartisan panel on Iraq is finalizing recommedations on Iraq. The group led by former Secretary of State James Baker III and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., plan to present ideas to Bush next month.Recent U.S. elections added fuel to the argument from Democrats that U.S. soldiers need to come home. But Bush has resisted that, even while projecting the need for a different approach."There's one thing I'm not going to do, I'm not going to pull our troops off the battlefield before the mission is complete," he said in a speech setting the stage for high-stakes meetings with the Iraqi prime minister later this week. "We can accept nothing less than victory for our children and our grandchildren."