Giuliani Declines to Assess Iraq Buildup
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
April 24, 2007
Filed at 12:53 p.m. ET
nytimes.com
NASHUA, N.H. (AP) -- Republican presidential contender Rudy Giuliani said Tuesday he couldn't evaluate whether President Bush's 10-week-old troop increase in Iraq was working.
''I don't know the answer to that,'' the former New York City mayor told reporters after speaking with a group of business leaders in the first-in-the-nation primary state.
Giuliani did, however, have an opinion on what he said is necessary for victory in Iraq -- an emphasis on helping Iraqis rebuild their country.
''By build I mean, re-establish the infrastructure, both physical and political, and the emphasis on that is going to be key to whether it does work or not,'' he said in response to a question about whether Bush's troop boost that was aimed at pacifying violence-plagued Baghdad was achieving results.
''We have had success in stabilizing certain parts of Iraq,'' Giuliani allowed. ''The real question is whether we can hold it and use it as an opportunity to build.''
He also said couldn't assess whether the Bush administration was focusing on the rebuilding aspect enough or at all. ''That part of it is the part that I would emphasize dramatically, and I can't tell you how that's going,'' Giuliani said.
The ex-mayor made his remarks a week after insurgents penetrated Baghdad with four bomb attacks that killed 183 people in the bloodiest day since the U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown began Feb. 14 with additional troops. On Monday, northeast of Baghdad, a suicide truck bombing killed nine U.S. paratroopers and wounded 20 in the worst attack on U.S. ground forces in Iraq in more than a year.
Giuliani also sidestepped a question about the circumstances in which he would withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq.
''The minute you start listing the circumstances under which you're going to pull out you start talking about defeat,'' Giuliani said. ''What we have to achieve in Iraq is a government and a situation that acts as a bulwark against terrorism rather than as an encouragement for them -- and then you've got to figure out the strategies to get you there and make them work.''
Like his top rivals for the GOP nomination, Giuliani has backed the president on the Iraq war and his decision to send more U.S. troops to Iraq. Following the increase, Sen. John McCain of Arizona said he saw ''glimmers of progress'' in Baghdad and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has said ''early signs are encouraging.''
McCain and Romney have been to Iraq; Giuliani has not.
Before boarding a campaign bus for other New Hampshire campaign events, Giuliani also deferred to Bush on Alberto Gonzales' fate in the uproar over the attorney general's leadership. Last week, Gonzales claimed dozens of times in a Senate hearing that he couldn't recall key details about the firings of eight federal prosecutors. Bush said Monday he had confidence in Gonzales.
''Attorney General Gonzales as far as I can tell didn't violate any laws,'' said Giuliani, a former U.S. attorney in New York. ''The question is, how do you evaluate his testimony and that really is up to the president.''
''If the president has confidence in him, then I think we should defer to the president,'' he added.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press |
