IRAQ Bush downplays increased violence as transfer nears

The president has stuck to his schedule, including campaign fund raising.
WASHINGTON POST
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- President Bush asserted Monday that he would not postpone the June 30 transfer of power in Iraq, as the administration gave an understated public reaction to flaring violence in that country and some of the heaviest fighting since Saddam Hussein's fall.
Bush and his press secretary put blame for the Shiite resistance in Baghdad -- where bloody clashes killed scores over the weekend -- on the work of "one man," cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who helped trigger a Shiite Muslim uprising.
And except for a seven-minute exchange with reporters that was added to his schedule to address the turmoil, the president went about his schedule, including his last fund-raiser for his re-election campaign and an appearance at a baseball game in St. Louis.
"The intention is to make sure the deadline remains the same," Bush said when asked about the scheduled transfer of civilian authority from the U.S.-led coalition to Iraqis on June 30. "The date remains firm."
Others express worry
The president's studied calm was in contrast to spreading worry at home and abroad about the Iraq situation. Sen. Richard G. Lugar, R-Ind., the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, suggested over the weekend that the transfer date may need to be delayed.
Qatar's foreign minister, Hamad Bin Jasim Thani, warned Monday that he fears "we are facing a civil war" in Iraq, and L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator in Iraq, canceled plans to travel to Washington so he could remain in Baghdad to deal with the crisis.
Vice President Dick Cheney also threw out a first pitch Monday -- his was in Cincinnati -- and spoke at a Republican fund-raiser. National security adviser Condoleezza Rice worked on Iraq and other issues but spent part of the day reviewing notes for her testimony Thursday before the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell was in Haiti. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld made no public appearances.
Objecting to criticism
Administration officials bristled at the idea that they were either disconnected from events in Iraq, or trying to appear so. They said they view Iraq as part of a long, hard war that will have daily ups and downs, and said they will not allow Bush to be trapped into responding to every development.
White House communications director Dan Bartlett said the president decided to speak Monday because he wanted to send a message of resolve to Americans and Iraqis, but that he is intentionally selective about such moments.
"When the president speaks, it must mean something and must speak to a larger point," Bartlett said. "He uses these events as an opportunity to educate the public about the struggle we face and how we will prevail. In a war on terror, there will be difficult days and good days. He has spoken out on both, and will continue to do so."
Sticking to schedule
Bush kept to his schedule last Wednesday when four Americans working as civilian contractors in Iraq were killed and then mutilated by a jubilant throng, producing some of the most disturbing images to emerge from the occupation. His only public event that day was a luncheon with members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. He did not add to his public schedule, and did not mention the horror in Fallujah while raising money for his campaign that night.
In Bush's remarks in Charlotte, he predicted more violence as the deadline for the hand-over of power approaches, saying, "It provides a convenient excuse to attack."
But he resisted any suggestion that the rebellion against U.S. forces has spread from the Sunni minority to the Shiite majority.
"[W]ith Sadr, this is one person who is deciding that rather than allow democracy to flourish, he's going to exercise force," he said.