Bush acknowledges high loss of Iraqi lives

There is some consensus that 30,000 dead is a credible number.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- In a rare, unscripted moment, President Bush estimated Monday that 30,000 Iraqis have died in the war, the first time he has publicly acknowledged the high price Iraqis have paid in the push for democracy.
In the midst of a campaign to win support for the unpopular war, Bush unexpectedly invited questions from the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia after a speech asserting that Iraq was making progress despite violence, flawed elections and other setbacks.
He immediately was challenged about the number of Iraqis who have lost their lives since the beginning of the war.
"I would say 30,000, more or less, have died as a result of the initial incursion and the ongoing violence against Iraqis," Bush said. "We've lost about 2,140 of our own troops in Iraq."
The U.S. military does not release its tally of Iraqi dead, but there is some consensus from outside experts that roughly 30,000 is a credible number. White House counselor Dan Bartlett said Bush was not giving an official figure but simply repeating public estimates.
Other questions
Another questioner challenged the administration's linkage of the Iraq war to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Bush said Saddam Hussein was a threat and was widely believed to have weapons of mass destruction -- a belief that later proved false.
"I made a tough decision. And knowing what I know today, I'd make the decision again," Bush said. "Removing Saddam Hussein makes this world a better place and America a safer country."
Monday's speech represented a departure from Bush's standard format where he speaks before friendly audiences -- often cheering members of the military -- and does not open himself to questions. He refused to take audience questions after an Iraq speech before the Council on Foreign Relations last week even though the group has a tradition of such queries. Bush will make another speech on Iraq on Wednesday, the last in a series of four addresses leading to Iraq's parliamentary elections.
Monday's trip brought Bush to the home state of one of his leading critics, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., a Vietnam veteran who had initially supported the war. Hundreds of anti-war demonstrators booed and chanted, "Shame, shame!" as the president's limo passed.
Call for withdrawal
At a reception five blocks from Bush's speech, Murtha said U.S. troops should be withdrawn. "It's not going to get better with us over there," the congressman said.
The U.S. government-financed Arabic-language television service, Alhurra, carried Bush's remarks live, but they were not shown on Al-Jazeera or Al-Arabiya or any of the Iraqi television stations. Most Iraqis disapprove of the presence of U.S. forces in their country, yet they are optimistic about Iraq's future and their own personal lives, according to a new ABC News poll conducted with Time magazine and other media partners.
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