Now if we could only get the rebels to cooperate.....

Iraqis ready to vote, U.S. troops tell Bush
Thu Oct 13, 2005 3:20 PM ET

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a carefully scripted event, a handpicked group of U.S. troops told President George W. Bush what he wanted to hear on Thursday -- that Iraqis were eager to vote on a new constitution this weekend.

Bush spoke to 10 U.S. troops and an Iraqi soldier in a video teleconference about plans for the Saturday vote, which is critical to U.S. aims for democracy in Iraq and creating conditions for the ultimate withdrawal of American forces.

Bush, suffering job approval ratings below 40 percent, the lowest of his presidency, is eager to show progress in Iraq as the American death toll nears 2,000. A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll last month said only 32 percent of Americans approved of his handling of Iraq.

Bush was at the White House complex and the troops from the U.S. Army's 42nd Infantry Division were in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit.

"I'm going to assure you of this: that so long as I'm the president, we're never going to back down, we're never going to give in, we'll never accept anything less than total victory," Bush told them.

Before Bush entered the room for the event, a senior Pentagon official had a practice session with the troops and went over topics the president later asked about. "All they were doing was talking to the troops and letting them know what to expect," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

Democrats dismissed the event.

"The American people and our brave troops deserve better than a photo-op for the president and a pep-rally about Iraq. They deserve a plan. Unfortunately, today's event only served to highlight the fact that the president refuses to engage in a frank conversation about the realities on the ground," said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat.

Capt. David Williams of Los Angeles told Bush that voter registration is up 17 percent -- including 400,000 new voters in north central Iraq -- and that his Iraqi counterpart told him Iraqis in Tikrit wanted to vote.

"He was going around talking to the locals, and from what he told me that the locals told him, the Iraqi people are ready and eager to vote in this referendum," Williams said.

Bush responded: "That's a pretty interesting concept for the people of Tikrit, when you really think about the fact that that was Saddam Hussein's hometown. They didn't get to vote too often when he was the leader there."

The troops told Bush the capability of Iraqi forces has been improving and that the U.S. military would take more of a supporting role in maintaining security during the referendum.

"Along with the coalition backing them, we'll have a very successful and effective referendum vote," said Capt. Steven Pratt of Pocatello, Idaho.

When prompted by the president to say something, the Iraqi soldier, Sgt. Maj. Akeel Shaker Nassir, said in English: "Good morning, Mr. President, thank you for everything. Thank you very much for everything. I like you."

The event in a hallway in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House was carefully choreographed.

During the practice session before Bush entered the room, a senior Pentagon official, Allison Barber, stood at the podium and queried the troops about topics the president later asked about, including the training of Iraqis and the level of progress. At her prompting, the soldiers raised their hands when the topic they were to answer came up.

Barber insisted later the questions were not rehearsed. The military had been told ahead of time only about topics the president might want to talk about, not specific questions.

"We just knew broad themes," Barber said.

(Additional reporting by Caren Bohan)

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