Iraq: Bush says the training is going well

yahoo/afp: US President George W. Bush said he was pleased with the "positive progress" achieved in training Iraqi troops, despite recent questions that have been raised about the readiness of home-grown security forces.

"More and more Iraqis are able to take the fight to the enemy," Bush said at a White House news conference.

"That's important for our goal, and the goal is for a stable, democratic
Iraq that is an ally in the war on terror."

"We're not leaving Iraq. We will succeed in Iraq," the US president declared.

Bush said there are currently more than 30 Iraqi army battalions working alongside coalition forces.

"That is substantial progress from the way the world was a year ago," the president said.

"Success in Iraq is really important for our future," Bush added. Read more

db: There is always going to be 30-40% of the US who believe this stuff - no matter what