Troop increase is best option for success in Iraq, Bush says

WASHINGTON —  President Bush said in an interview Tuesday that the increase in the number of troops in Baghdad would “more likely be successful” than the alternatives.

Bush said that withdrawing from Baghdad “would be expedited failure” and that continuing the course he followed in 2006 might have led to “a slow failure.”

If the United States does not help the government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki end the sectarian violence in Iraq, “it’s going to get a lot worse, believe it or not,” Bush said in an interview with PBS’ “Newshour.”

“And if that were to happen, it will embolden Iran,” he said. “It will provide safe haven for Sunni killers; I mean, it would just really create a very dangerous situation for the American people in the longer run.”

Bush said that U.S. officials should have moved more troops into the Iraqi capital as violence increased over the last year. Asked why he had not done that, he placed the blame on his military commanders and the Iraqis.

“I think the commanders there felt like it was important to make sure the Iraqis did [it] first, or that the Iraqis made a focused, concerned effort,” Bush said. “And they just didn’t.”

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