【标准VOA】2008-04-15
Bush Says Iraqi Security Improving (2/2)
Troops deploying to Iraq or Afghanistan after August 1 will have their tour of duty reduced from 15 months to 12 months.
The war in Iraq is deeply unpopular in the United States. A majority of Americans now believe toppling Saddam Hussein was a mistake. A public opinion poll by the Associated Press this past week showed nearly two-thirds of Americans disapprove of how President Bush is handling the war.
In the Democratic party's radio address, Kentucky Congressman John Yarmuth focused on the continuing cost of the war, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says is as much as $9 billion a month.
Yarmuth says Iraq's government is enjoying a multi-billion dollar surplus while Americans pay the salaries of Iraqi security forces.
President Bush this past week said there is no doubt the cost of the war is great, but he said it is a modest fraction of the nation's wealth and is a burden worth bearing because Iraq is a focal point for what he called the greatest threats to America, al-Qaida and Iran.
