President George W. Bush opened an aggressive final week of campaigning Monday with a rally in Statesboro, Georgia, arguing that a Democratic takeover of Congress on 7 November would benefit America's enemies. He accused the opposition of lacking any credible plan for Iraq, saying their primary goal was withdrawal before the mission was complete.
The Iraq war, which has cost more than 2,800 American military lives, has weighed heavily on Bush's approval ratings and boosted Democratic prospects heading into the midterm elections. Democrats needed to gain 15 seats to control the House and six to capture the Senate.
Bush defended the March 2003 invasion and insisted that removing Saddam Hussein was correct, even though no weapons of mass destruction were ever found. He acknowledged difficult conditions on the ground, with 102 Americans killed or dying in Iraq during October alone.
Separately, US national security adviser Stephen Hadley held unannounced talks in Baghdad with his Iraqi counterpart, Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, focusing on speeding up training of Iraqi forces. The White House described the visit as long-planned and downplayed reports of tension with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government, calling such accounts "overblown."
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in October 2006, in its own words.