AlonzoMourning23
06-10-2006, 06:05 PM
WASHINGTON (AFP) - President George W. Bush hailed "a good week for the cause of freedom" after the US slaying in Iraq of insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, but warned Americans of more sacrifice to come.
The killing of Al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq may provoke an upsurge in violence, Bush said in his weekly radio address.
"The work ahead will require more sacrifice and the continued patience of the American people," said the US president, under mounting public pressure to withdraw the 130,000 US troops from Iraq.
Bush said he would meet Monday with his national security team and key Cabinet members to "discuss the way ahead in Iraq," then hold a teleconference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and members of his cabinet Tuesday.
Meanwhile, a roadside bomb Saturday killed a soldier in Iraq, bringing to 2,488 the number of US soldiers killed there since the US-led invasion in March 2003, according to Pentagon figures.
And a US military autopsy was under way on Zarqawi in response to queries about the conditions of his death Wednesday after a massive US air strike on his hideout.
On Friday a US general revealed that Zarqawi was alive when Iraqi and coalition forces arrived on the scene of the attack, but died shortly thereafter of his wounds.
A coalition forces spokesman told reporters Saturday there were no gunshot wounds on his body.
In his nationwide radio address, Bush hailed the killing of Zarqawi as a major advance on the war against terror.
"This was a good week for the cause of freedom. On Wednesday night in Iraq, US military forces killed the terrorist Zarqawi," he said.
"The killing of Zarqawi is an important victory in the global war on terror. This Jordanian-born terrorist was the operational commander of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. He led a campaign of car bombings, and kidnappings, and suicide attacks that has taken the lives of many American forces, international aid workers, and thousands of innocent Iraqis," he said.
Bush said that "after the fall of Saddam, Zarqawi went underground and declared his allegiance to Osama bin Laden, who called him the 'Prince of Al-Qaeda in Iraq' and instructed terrorists around the world to 'listen to him and obey him.'"
"Zarqawi personally beheaded American hostages and other civilians in Iraq; he masterminded the destruction of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad; and he was responsible for the assassination of an American diplomat in Jordan and the bombing of hotels in Amman," Bush said.
Zarqawi's goals in Iraq, the US leader said, were to stop "the rise of democracy," drive out foreign troops, incite civil war and turn the country into a haven for Al-Qaeda.
"Instead, Zarqawi died in the free and democratic Iraq that he fought so hard to prevent," Bush said.
Though "Zarqawi is dead ... the difficult and necessary mission in Iraq continues. In the weeks ahead, violence in Iraq may escalate. The terrorists and insurgents will seek to prove that they can carry on without Zarqawi. And Coalition and Iraqi forces are seizing this moment to strike the enemies of freedom in Iraq at this time of uncertainty for their cause," Bush warned.
"The work ahead will require more sacrifice and the continued patience of the American people," the US president said.
"There's still difficult work ahead in Iraq. Yet this week, the ideology of terror has suffered a severe blow ... and freedom has achieved a great victory in the heart of the Middle East," he added.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060610/pl_afp/usiraqzarqawibush_060610164314;_ylt=Asdcv2_fYA7KOW 4kAFucQx6s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MjBwMWtkBHNlYwM3MTg-
The killing of Al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq may provoke an upsurge in violence, Bush said in his weekly radio address.
"The work ahead will require more sacrifice and the continued patience of the American people," said the US president, under mounting public pressure to withdraw the 130,000 US troops from Iraq.
Bush said he would meet Monday with his national security team and key Cabinet members to "discuss the way ahead in Iraq," then hold a teleconference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and members of his cabinet Tuesday.
Meanwhile, a roadside bomb Saturday killed a soldier in Iraq, bringing to 2,488 the number of US soldiers killed there since the US-led invasion in March 2003, according to Pentagon figures.
And a US military autopsy was under way on Zarqawi in response to queries about the conditions of his death Wednesday after a massive US air strike on his hideout.
On Friday a US general revealed that Zarqawi was alive when Iraqi and coalition forces arrived on the scene of the attack, but died shortly thereafter of his wounds.
A coalition forces spokesman told reporters Saturday there were no gunshot wounds on his body.
In his nationwide radio address, Bush hailed the killing of Zarqawi as a major advance on the war against terror.
"This was a good week for the cause of freedom. On Wednesday night in Iraq, US military forces killed the terrorist Zarqawi," he said.
"The killing of Zarqawi is an important victory in the global war on terror. This Jordanian-born terrorist was the operational commander of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. He led a campaign of car bombings, and kidnappings, and suicide attacks that has taken the lives of many American forces, international aid workers, and thousands of innocent Iraqis," he said.
Bush said that "after the fall of Saddam, Zarqawi went underground and declared his allegiance to Osama bin Laden, who called him the 'Prince of Al-Qaeda in Iraq' and instructed terrorists around the world to 'listen to him and obey him.'"
"Zarqawi personally beheaded American hostages and other civilians in Iraq; he masterminded the destruction of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad; and he was responsible for the assassination of an American diplomat in Jordan and the bombing of hotels in Amman," Bush said.
Zarqawi's goals in Iraq, the US leader said, were to stop "the rise of democracy," drive out foreign troops, incite civil war and turn the country into a haven for Al-Qaeda.
"Instead, Zarqawi died in the free and democratic Iraq that he fought so hard to prevent," Bush said.
Though "Zarqawi is dead ... the difficult and necessary mission in Iraq continues. In the weeks ahead, violence in Iraq may escalate. The terrorists and insurgents will seek to prove that they can carry on without Zarqawi. And Coalition and Iraqi forces are seizing this moment to strike the enemies of freedom in Iraq at this time of uncertainty for their cause," Bush warned.
"The work ahead will require more sacrifice and the continued patience of the American people," the US president said.
"There's still difficult work ahead in Iraq. Yet this week, the ideology of terror has suffered a severe blow ... and freedom has achieved a great victory in the heart of the Middle East," he added.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060610/pl_afp/usiraqzarqawibush_060610164314;_ylt=Asdcv2_fYA7KOW 4kAFucQx6s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MjBwMWtkBHNlYwM3MTg-