Reply #6: It'll take a change of regimes here in the U.S. before we loosen our grip [View All]

By Wendy S. Ross
Washington File White House Correspondent

Washington -- President Bush said November 17 that the United States will not pull out of Iraq when a provisional government is established there.

Bush made the promise in a meeting in the Oval Office with five prominent Iraqi women who told the president of the hardships they had suffered under Saddam Hussein.

"I assured these five women that America wasn't leaving," Bush said.

"When they hear me say we're staying, that means we're staying," Bush said.

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The Iraqi people have indicated in a number of different ways, he said, such as opinion polls and statements by Governing Council representatives, "that they want us to stay until the job is finished. And part of that job is making sure that we have a secure environment for the Iraqi people.

http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2003&m=November&x=20031117181524ssorw0.760586&t=usinfo/wf-latest.html


Interview of President Bush by Sir David Frost on BBC TV

Iraqis "need to know that we won't leave the country prematurely," said President Bush in an interview with David Frost on BBC TV that was broadcast November 16. "They need to know two things: We're not going to cut and run; and two, we believe they have the capacity to run their own country."

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THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, you've got to know I don't pay attention to polls. I just don't.

http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2003&m=November&x=20031117152622samohtj0.8043939&t=usinfo/wf-latest.html