Iraq

Bush touts 'good progress' in Iraq

CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush claimed "good progress" in Iraq on Friday, 100 days after he had declared an end to major combat, but he also mourned American casualties and refused to say how long U.S. troops would stay.

"This administration will do what is necessary to win the war on terror," Bush said.

He would not say whether he agreed with Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, allied forces commander in Iraq, who said Thursday U.S. forces will remain in Iraq at least two years.

The White House treated the 100-day postwar mark as a political milestone, issuing a list of accomplishments as it did after Bush's first 100 days in office.

Bush would not speculate, however, about costs Americans should expect in coming months, in dollars or lives.

An American soldier was shot and killed while on guard duty in western Baghdad, the military said Friday, but the Army said it was unclear whether the soldier was attacked or shot accidentally.

"We suffer when we lose life," Bush said, speaking on his Texas ranch alongside Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld after a meeting on military strategy.

He also said he could not estimate how much the war will cost in the next fiscal year but promised to present a well thought-out cost estimate to Congress. A key factor will be how much financial and military assistance the United States receives from other countries, Bush said.

Democrats have sharpened their criticism of Bush's stewardship on Iraq in recent days.

It presented 10 points of evidence for each of nine areas of progress, starting with how the "liberation of Iraq supports the war on terror."

Other areas of accomplishment asserted in the report included improvements in Iraq's security and infrastructure; the start of democracy; economic renewal; cultural rebirth; and improvements in the lives of Iraqi women and children.

The report also outlined areas of international contributions to patrolling and rebuilding Iraq.

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