The New Nation - Internet Edition

War in Iraq must go on, says Bush

CNN, Washington

Five years after he green-lighted the war in Iraq, President Bush will mark the anniversary by calling the debate over the conflict "understandable" but insisting that a continued U.S. presence there is crucial.

President Bush tours the Blount Island Marine Terminal in Jacksonville, Florida, on Tuesday.

"The answers are clear to me," Bush says, according to excerpts of his speech to be delivered at the Pentagon on Wednesday, the day the war began in 2003.

"Removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision, and this is a fight America can and must win."

Almost 4,000 American troops have died in the war, a painful toll that Bush acknowledges in his remarks.

"No one would argue that this war has not come at a high cost in lives and treasure, but those costs are necessary when we consider the cost of a strategic victory for our enemies in Iraq."

Bush contends that the troop surge he ordered in January 2007 has been a success and was necessary at a point when "the fight in Iraq was faltering."

"The surge has done more than turn the situation in Iraq around; it has opened the door to a major strategic victory in the broader war on terror," he says, according to the excerpts.

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"For the terrorists, Iraq was supposed to be the place where al Qaeda rallied Arab masses to drive America out. Instead, Iraq has become the place where Arabs joined with Americans to drive al Qaeda out." Video Watch CNN correspondents recall 'shock and awe' "

Still, large-scale attacks by terrorists and insurgent groups continue in Iraq. Bombings killed six Iraqis and wounded 51 in northeastern Baghdad and Mosul on Tuesday, and the death toll from a Monday suicide bombing in Karbala rose to 50.

In the excerpts, Bush acknowledges critics of the war -- including Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton -- and says that they "can no longer credibly argue that we are losing in Iraq, so now they argue the war costs too much."

Recently, two economists wrote a column suggesting that the war in Iraq will wind up costing the United States more than $3 trillion. The opinion piece, published in the Washington Post, was authored by Joseph E. Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist who served as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Clinton, and Linda J. Bilmes, a former chief financial officer at the Commerce Department.

Russia, US fail to reach compromise on missile shield

Xinhua, Moscow

Talks between top Russian and US diplomats and defense ministers have failed to reach a compromise on US plans to deploy missile shield components in Central Europe, a plan rejected by Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that the United States reaffirmed its willingness to set up its third missile shield in Europe in the 2-plus-2 talks in Moscow that involved his US counterpart Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov.

Talks between top Russian and U.S. diplomats and defense ministers have failed to reach a compromise on U.S. plans to deploy missile shield components in Central Europe, a plan rejected by Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) meets US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Moscow Mar. 18, 2008. [Agencies] "Russia, however, does not agree with this intention and has put forward an alternative that was originally put forward by President Vladimir Putin," Lavrov told a press conference after the one-day talks.

Russia's concerns were heard by the United States which has provided important and useful proposals which Moscow is to examine, he said.

The top Russian diplomat said post-START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) arrangements should be legally binding, saying "much work needs to be done yet to put substance in these documents."

Merkel pledges unwavering German support for Israel

AFP, Jerusalem

Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday pledged Germany's continued support of Israel in a landmark speech at the tail end of a solidarity visit to mark 60 years since the Jewish state's founding.

"Germany will never abandon Israel but will remain a true friend and partner," Merkel said in an address to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, the first by a German head of government.

"Sixty years of Israel: that is most of all an occasion for great joy," she said, referring to the Jewish state's anniversary that will be officially marked in May.

"Germany and Israel are and will always remain linked in a special way through the memory of the Holocaust," she said as she wrapped up a visit to mark the founding of the Jewish state in the wake of the Nazi genocide.

Israeli warship enters Lebanese waters

AFP, Beirut

An Israeli warship briefly entered Lebanese waters on Monday but was intercepted by an Italian ship operating as part of the UN peacekeeping force, the army said on Tuesday. "An Israeli Saar warship entered Lebanese territorial waters at 7:30 am (0530 GMT) yesterday morning before being intercepted by the Italian navy's Bettica, which is part of UNIFIL," an army spokesman told AFP. The Israeli vessel travelled three miles (about five kilometres) before leaving , according to an army statement. Israeli jets regularly violate Lebanese airspace, but it is rare for warships to enter Lebanese territorial waters. Yasmina Bouziane, spokeswoman for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), and said an investigation was underway.

McCain backs Jerusalem as 'Israeli capital'

AFP, Jerusalem

US Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Tuesday he supports Israel's claim to the holy city of Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state. "I support Jerusalem as the capital of Israel," McCain said in Jordan before heading to Israel where he arrived late Tuesday. Israel annexed Arab east Jerusalem after the 1967 Middle East war and declared it part of its eternal undivided capital, a claim not recognised by the international community. The fate of Jerusalem is one of the thorniest issues in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and renewed Israeli settlement activity in the occupied eastern part is hampering peace talks revived only in November.