"It'll be a hard journey… Iraq will have a steady friend in the American people," Bush

DEARBORN, Michigan, April 29 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The United States will not impose any government or culture on Iraq but will be a "steady friend" in forming a new democracy after the downfall of Saddam, U.S. President George W. Bush said Monday, April 28., in a speech broadcast across the Arab world.

"The Iraqi people will choose their own leaders and their own government," Bush told about 600 Arab-Americans at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center in Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit with deep Middle Eastern ties.

"The days of oppression from any source are over," he said, adding that Iraq "will be democratic."

Bush's speech in Dearborn, on Saddam's birthday, came on the same day that Jay Garner, the retired Army lieutenant general who is Iraq's day-to-day administrator, met in Baghdad with 300 Iraqi political leaders, all vying for power in the new Iraq, Washington Post reported.

As Garner mapped out a vision for an interim government authority, Bush said that they need to be patient because building a new democracy takes time.

"America pledged to rid Iraq of an oppressive regime and we kept our word," Bush said.

"Iraq can be an example of peace and prosperity and freedom to the entire Middle East," he said, under a banner that read "Renewal in Iraq" in English and Arabic.

"It'll be a hard journey, but every step of the way, Iraq will have a steady friend in the American people".

Bush's speech and an earlier roundtable discussion with Arab-Americans seemed aimed as much at the Middle East as to his immediate audience.

The White House opened the roundtable to several Middle East-based news media but their U.S. colleagues had to protest to get access, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

Bush said economic sanctions still in place against Iraq were pointless and should be removed. And he highlighted progress in restoring power and getting food and medical aid to Iraqi citizens.

Washington faces stiff resistance from U.N. Security Council permanent members France and Russia which argue that sanctions should be lifted when Iraq is declared free of weapons of mass destruction.

The U.S. forces did not find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq so far, with U.S. Secretary of Defense having said the process could take not so short time.

As he was leaving, Bush embraced Imam Hassan Qazwini of the Islamic Center of America, a Shiite mosque in Dearborn. In a move full of symbolism, the two men exchanged traditional Middle Eastern salutations of a kiss on each cheek.

Haider Mirza, a Shiite, presented the President with a letter outlining the community's hopes for U.S. help, but not occupation, in Iraq.

"No Debate"

Before the speech, Bush attended a round-table discussion with more than a dozen Iraqi-Americans. At one point, a Kurd, Asad Khailany, professor of computer information systems at Eastern Michigan University, proposed three semi-autonomous regions for the new Iraq. When Tarik Dawoud, a car dealer who was born in Basra, rose to object, the President acted quickly to dampen any disagreement.

"We're not going to have a debate on the form of the government," the President told the round-table participants. "This debate is going to take place in Iraq."

The President wasn't just talking to a friendly crowd in Michigan. His speech was being telecast live by al-Jazeera, al-Arabiya and Abu Dhabi television, satellite stations widely viewed throughout the Arab world.

Despite widespread criticism from the large Arab-American population in the Detroit area that the administration's immigration policies and its aggressive effort to root out “terrorism” have infringed on civil liberties, none of the participants raised the issue with Bush, according to The New York Times.

Bush said nothing about the end of the military conflict in the oil-rich country. That announcement was expected later this week when Bush travels to California and spend the night on an aircraft carrier returning from the war.

"There still are missions to be accomplished in Iraq," White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said, previewing the speech to reporters on Air Force One. "He does not look at it as declaring victory, he looks at it as describing where we are and the fact that we are now turning to a new and important phase in this war on terrorism and in Iraq."

Political analysts said the U.S. fears that the declaration of victory would made it forced to comply with commitments as an "occupying force".

"Islamic Democracy"

Some Bush advisers have said that toppling Saddam and helping Iraqis create a democratic government in his place would serve as an example to the entire Middle East and help eradicate “terrorism”.

"We've always said that there can be an Islamic democracy -- not an Islamic theocracy like Iran, but an Islamic democracy," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said earlier aboard Bush's official aircraft Air Force One.

Bush worked to banish any perception that Iraq's humanitarian troubles stemmed from the U.S.-led military campaign that drove into Baghdad after just three weeks of fighting, adding that American troops and relief workers from all over the world were striving to undo the harm Saddam did to Iraq and his people.

The U.S. forces were widely slammed by the Iraqi people for turning a blind eye over the large acts of looting and thievery all of the Iraqi areas descended into following their invasion and the overthrow of Saddam.

There were also waves of massive demonstrations that broke out in various districts of the country with higher calls for ending the occupation and the precipitous formation of a national government. In one demonstration, tens of thousands of Iraqis, both Sunnis and Shiites, joined hands demanding an end to the Anglo-American occupation of their country with chants "No to Saddam, No to Bush, Yes to Islam".

Bush admitted that much work remains to be done in the country.

"Day by day, hour by hour, life in Iraq is getting better for the citizens, yet much work remains to be done," said Bush.

"America pledged to rid Iraq of an oppressive regime, and we kept our word. America now pledges to help Iraqis build a prosperous and peaceful nation, and we will keep our word again," he added.

It was Bush's ninth trip as president to Michigan, a state he lost to Al Gore in 2000. In addition to the round-table discussion and the speech, he also met here with the top executives of the three big automobile manufacturers to seek their help in pushing his tax cut through Congress and to ask their views of how the economy is faring.

The White House did not provide any details of the meeting, but the auto executives said afterward that they supported the president's tax plan, including its call for eliminating the tax on stock dividends.