Bush says leaving Iraq could foster attacks in U.S.

WASHINGTON -- Denying he has painted too rosy a picture about Iraq, President George W. Bush said Thursday that terrorists could "plot and plan attacks elsewhere, in America and other free nations" if U.S. forces were withdrawn. Bush said he would consider sending more troops if asked, but Iraq's interim leader firmly said they weren't needed.\nBush and Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, standing in the Rose Garden under a bright sun, agreed that Iraq is making steady progress despite bombings, beheadings and violence that has claimed the lives of more than 1,000 Americans.\n"On television sets around the world, we see acts of violence, yet in most of Iraq, children are about to go back to school, parents are going back to work and new businesses are being opened," Bush said. Allawi said 14 or 15 of Iraq's 18 provinces "are completely safe."\nThe joint news conference, in the midst of the presidential campaign, echoed Bush's campaign speeches and the themes of his attacks against Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. Six weeks before the election, Allawi strongly supported Bush's policy. During his first official visit to Washington, the prime minister told a joint meeting of Congress that "the values of liberty and democracy" are taking hold in Iraq despite setbacks. He offered a simple, "Thank you, America" for driving Saddam Hussein from power.\nDemocratic presidential candidate John Kerry contends Bush has been dishonest about the war's rationale and cost and lacks an effective strategy to end the crisis. While Kerry urges a start of troop withdrawals within six months and complete pullout in four years, Bush and Allawi said the United States must stand and fight.\n"If we stop fighting the terrorists in Iraq, they would be free to plot and plan attacks elsewhere, in America and other free nations," the president said, linking Iraq with the more politically popular war on terror. "To retreat now would betray our mission, our word and our friends ... America will keep its commitments."\nWithout mentioning Kerry by name, Bush and Allawi suggested his criticism was undercutting Iraq and the United States. "You can embolden an enemy by sending mixed messages," Bush said.\nAllawi said: "When political leaders sound the sirens of defeatism in the face of terrorism, it only encourages more violence."\nKerry said that contrary to assertions by Bush and Allawi, things are not improving in Iraq "and we need to change the course to protect our troops and to win."\nSpeaking in Columbus, Ohio, Kerry said, "The prime minister and the president are here, obviously, to put their best face on the policy. But the fact is that the CIA estimates, the reporting, the ground operations and the troops all tell a different story."\nIn a rare admission of error, Bush said he should not have said -- as he did Tuesday -- that the CIA was just guessing in a report this summer that gave a gloomy intelligence assessment that raised the prospect of Iraq tumbling into civil war. "I used an unfortunate word, 'guess,'" Bush said. "I should have used 'estimate.'"\n"But what's important for the American people to hear is reality," Bush said, turning toward Allawi. "And the reality's right here in the form of the prime minister."\nAllawi said Iraq was "a country emerging finally from dark ages of tyranny, aggression and corruption." Iraq will hold elections on time in January, Allawi said, cautioning that "they may not be perfect" or be "the best elections that Iraq will ever hold"