US President George W. Bush admitted on Wednesday that Americans are weary of the Iraq war but defended his decision to send more troops to Iraq. Bush spoke during a visit to an army base in California.
"It's a tough war," Bush said, according to Reuters. "The American people are weary of this war."
Defending his decision to add some 30,000 extra soldiers to Iraq, Bush conveyed he wants to bring stability to Baghdad and avoid a spread of the conflict into the region. "I had a choice to make," Bush said.
Bush renewed his criticism of Democrats for trying to attach withdrawal timetable deadlines to the war funding legislation. Democrats who are trying to impose a pullout deadline are "fine, fine people" and patriotic, he said. But "we cannot allow honest differences in Washington" to hurt the troops, the US leader stated.
A Newsweek poll released last weekend said 57 percent of Americans support the Democrats' proposal to start withdrawing forces and 36 percent reject it.
