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Should we still be in Iraq? Look at the facts http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/ Post your opinions after you read this articial.
WHEELING, West Virginia (CNN) -- President Bush on Wednesday defended an Afghan Christian who is on trial for rejecting Islam and who could eventually face the death penalty.
"It is deeply troubling that a country we helped liberate would hold a person to account because they chose a particular religion over another," Bush said during a speaking engagement in Wheeling, West Virginia.
"I think we can solve this problem by working closely with the government that we've got contacts with, and we'll deal with this issue diplomatically and remind people that there is something as universal as being able to choose religions."
Abdul Rahman, a 44-year-old father of two, was arrested after telling local police, whom he approached on an unrelated matter, that he had converted to Christianity. Reports say he was carrying a Bible at the time. (Watch how the convert explained his conversion -- 1:17)
The Afghan constitution, which is based on Sharia, or Islamic law, says that apostates can receive the death penalty.
Rahman told reporters last week, "They want to sentence me to death, and I accept it, but I am not a deserter and not an infidel." (Full story)
Bush focused most of his remarks in West Virginia Wednesday on the U.S.-led war in Iraq and the as-of-yet unformed Iraqi government.
"Now it's time for a government to get stood up," Bush said. "There's time for the elected representatives -- or those who represent the voters, the political parties -- to come together and form a unity government. That's what the people want. Otherwise they wouldn't have gone to the polls, would they have?"
The process has been delayed by political infighting since Iraqis voted for a new parliament in December.
Bush told an audience at Capitol Music Hall that he had spoken to U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad and Gen. George Casey, the commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, and urged them to put pressure on Iraqi lawmakers to build a unified government.
"We talked about the need to make it clearer to the Iraqis that it's time," he said. "It's time to get a government in place that can start leading [Iraq] and listen to the will of the people."
He said he understood the trepidation of Iraqis because of their history, but they were beginning to see the promise of democracy.
Iraqi political leaders plan to meet on Saturday to discuss the formation of a national unity government, a Sunni leader said in Baghdad.
Adnan al-Dulaimi, of the Iraqi Accord Front, said earlier Wednesday that one of the topics is expected to be the formation of a national security council comprising Iraq's top politicians.
Bush also praised U.S. troops serving in war zones and said that the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, taught him several lessons.
The president said one of those lessons was that threats to the United States cannot be ignored.
"When you see a threat emerging, you just can't hope it goes away," Bush said.
Bush said he saw a threat in Iraq, and Saddam Hussein had the choice to disarm or face the consequences.
"And then I was confronted with a choice," Bush said. "And I made my choice, and the world is better off without Saddam Hussein in power."
Bush's speech comes a day after his wide-ranging news conference where the president rejected the idea that Iraq was in a civil war and suggested that U.S. troops could be deployed there for years. (Transcript of news conference)
Total withdrawal "will be decided by future presidents and future governments of Iraq," he said.
Wednesday's Iraq speech is Bush's second such appearance this week, after a similar address in Cleveland, Ohio, on Monday. Bush is fighting to reverse plunging approval numbers and opinion polls suggesting American support for the Iraq war is waning.
In a CNN poll released this month, 57 percent of respondents said sending troops to Iraq was a mistake, while 42 percent felt the war was not a mistake. Sixty percent believed that things were going badly in Iraq, and 67 percent believe that President Bush does not have a clear plan for handling the war. (View poll results)
So far, 2,318 U.S. troops have died in Iraq, according to U.S. military reports. In December, Bush estimated that at least 30,000 Iraqis have died.
CNN's Kathleen Koch contributed to this report.
WHEELING, West Virginia (CNN) -- President Bush on Wednesday defended an Afghan Christian who is on trial for rejecting Islam and who could eventually face the death penalty.
"It is deeply troubling that a country we helped liberate would hold a person to account because they chose a particular religion over another," Bush said during a speaking engagement in Wheeling, West Virginia.
"I think we can solve this problem by working closely with the government that we've got contacts with, and we'll deal with this issue diplomatically and remind people that there is something as universal as being able to choose religions."
Abdul Rahman, a 44-year-old father of two, was arrested after telling local police, whom he approached on an unrelated matter, that he had converted to Christianity. Reports say he was carrying a Bible at the time. (Watch how the convert explained his conversion -- 1:17)
The Afghan constitution, which is based on Sharia, or Islamic law, says that apostates can receive the death penalty.
Rahman told reporters last week, "They want to sentence me to death, and I accept it, but I am not a deserter and not an infidel." (Full story)
Bush focused most of his remarks in West Virginia Wednesday on the U.S.-led war in Iraq and the as-of-yet unformed Iraqi government.
"Now it's time for a government to get stood up," Bush said. "There's time for the elected representatives -- or those who represent the voters, the political parties -- to come together and form a unity government. That's what the people want. Otherwise they wouldn't have gone to the polls, would they have?"
The process has been delayed by political infighting since Iraqis voted for a new parliament in December.
Bush told an audience at Capitol Music Hall that he had spoken to U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad and Gen. George Casey, the commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, and urged them to put pressure on Iraqi lawmakers to build a unified government.
"We talked about the need to make it clearer to the Iraqis that it's time," he said. "It's time to get a government in place that can start leading [Iraq] and listen to the will of the people."
He said he understood the trepidation of Iraqis because of their history, but they were beginning to see the promise of democracy.
Iraqi political leaders plan to meet on Saturday to discuss the formation of a national unity government, a Sunni leader said in Baghdad.
Adnan al-Dulaimi, of the Iraqi Accord Front, said earlier Wednesday that one of the topics is expected to be the formation of a national security council comprising Iraq's top politicians.
Bush also praised U.S. troops serving in war zones and said that the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, taught him several lessons.
The president said one of those lessons was that threats to the United States cannot be ignored.
"When you see a threat emerging, you just can't hope it goes away," Bush said.
Bush said he saw a threat in Iraq, and Saddam Hussein had the choice to disarm or face the consequences.
"And then I was confronted with a choice," Bush said. "And I made my choice, and the world is better off without Saddam Hussein in power."
Bush's speech comes a day after his wide-ranging news conference where the president rejected the idea that Iraq was in a civil war and suggested that U.S. troops could be deployed there for years. (Transcript of news conference)
Total withdrawal "will be decided by future presidents and future governments of Iraq," he said.
Wednesday's Iraq speech is Bush's second such appearance this week, after a similar address in Cleveland, Ohio, on Monday. Bush is fighting to reverse plunging approval numbers and opinion polls suggesting American support for the Iraq war is waning.
In a CNN poll released this month, 57 percent of respondents said sending troops to Iraq was a mistake, while 42 percent felt the war was not a mistake. Sixty percent believed that things were going badly in Iraq, and 67 percent believe that President Bush does not have a clear plan for handling the war. (View poll results)
So far, 2,318 U.S. troops have died in Iraq, according to U.S. military reports. In December, Bush estimated that at least 30,000 Iraqis have died.
CNN's Kathleen Koch contributed to this report.
