In probably his final State of the Union address scheduled for Monday night, U.S. President George W. Bush will try his best to ease widespread worries among U.S. public about a looming U.S. recession and tout latest progress made in Iraq.
For years, the Bush administration has been frustrated that it received little credit for the nation's strong economic performance because of public discontent about the Iraq war. Now the administration is getting little credit for progress in Iraq as the public focus more on a struggling economy.
This is the problem facing President Bush as he prepares to deliver his last State of the Union address on Monday night.
In the speech, Bush will vow to keep America's economy healthy and ask Congress to quickly pass a 150 billion U.S. dollar economic rescue package agreed upon in bipartisan negotiations between the White House and the Capital Hill. The package features tax rebates and incentives for businesses to invest in facilities and equipment.
"To build a prosperous future, we must trust people with their own money and empower them to grow our economy. As we meet tonight, our economy is undergoing a period of uncertainty. And at kitchen tables across our country, there is concern about our economic future. In the long run, Americans can be confident about our economic growth," he said, according to excerpts of the speech released by the White House in advance.
"We must trust Americans with the responsibility of homeownership and empower them to weather turbulent times in the housing market," he added.
On Iraq, Bush will defend his decision to send more U.S. troops to Iraq last year, which is dubbed as the "surge," saying that violence in the oil-rich country has been reduced even though there are still troubling times ahead and very tough fighting.
"While the enemy is still dangerous and more work remains, the American and Iraqi surges have achieved results few of us could have imagined just one year ago," he said.
"Some may deny the surge is working, but among the terrorists there is no doubt. Al-Qaida is on the run in Iraq, and this enemy will be defeated," Bush argued.
He said the U.S. objective in the coming year is to sustain and build on the gains the U.S. troops made in 2007, while transitioning to the next phase of U.S. strategy. "American troops are shifting from leading operations to partnering with Iraqi forces and, eventually, to a protective over watch mission," he said.
Source: Xinhua
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