Bush says confident Iran provided weapons in Iraq
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Wednesday said he was convinced a unit of Iran's military gave explosive devices to Iraqi militants but he could not prove Iran's leaders ordered the move. Bush also said he was prepared for a fight with the Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress if lawmakers attempted to cut off funding for U.S. troops in Iraq.
"I think you can be against my decision and support the troops, absolutely," he told a White House news conference. "But the proof will be whether or not you provide them the money necessary to do the mission."
Bush said he was confident that the Quds Force, an elite unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, provided explosive devices to Iraqi militants but admitted "I don't think we know" if Iran's leaders were behind the effort.
His admission came days after U.S. officials in Baghdad charged that officials at the "highest levels" of Tehran's government were involved in arming Iraqi militants -- an accusation that Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, declined to embrace.
The intelligence community believes the Quds Force would not act without top-level approval.
"Based on our understanding of the Iranian system and the history of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp operations, the intelligence community assesses that activity this extensive on the part of the Quds Force would not be conducted without approval from top leaders in Iran," said a senior intelligence official.
Bush is facing skepticism about the charge because his 2002 claims that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction proved false. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has denied that Iran is supplying sophisticated weapons to Iraqi militants.
His voice rising with emotion, Bush said the United States was not pushing the claim as a "pretext for war." He vowed to shut down the networks responsible for the weapons.
"The idea that somehow we're manufacturing the idea that the Iranians are providing IEDs (improvised explosive devices) is preposterous. My job is to protect our troops. And when we find devices that are in that country that are hurting our troops, we're going to do something about it, pure and simple." he said.
Bush's deployment of 21,500 more U.S. troops prompted Congress to debate nonbinding resolutions opposing the move. The House of Representatives this week is debating its version, and Bush was resigned to a vote against his policy.
Several Republican lawmakers spoke one after the other in support of the resolution.
"It certainly is no criticism of our troops to say that this was a very unnecessary war. It has always been more about money and power and prestige than any real threat to us or to our people," said Tennessee Republican Rep. John Duncan.
Bush said while he understood that lawmakers had differences of opinion about his plan, he questioned why they would reject a strategy being carried out by Gen. David Petraeus, who the Senate confirmed last week as the top U.S. commander in Iraq.
So far, none of the resolutions has talked of cutting off funds, but Congress soon will start debate on Bush's $100 billion budget request to support U.S. forces.
For the first time, Bush said he would like eventually to adopt recommendations of a bipartisan panel, led by former Secretary of State James Baker and ex-congressman Lee Hamilton, whose advice he had shrugged off in forming his new policy.
"I thought that Baker-Hamilton made a lot of sense -- their recommendations. We just weren't able to get there if the capital was up in flames," Bush said.
He did not say which recommendations he would like to adopt. The panel had proposed direct talks with Iran and Syria.
Asked why he would not hold talks with Ahmadinejad, Bush said he would only do so if results could be achieved and that he wanted to maintain allied pressure on Iran to give up a drive for nuclear weapons that Tehran denies.
"This is a world in which people say, 'Meet! Sit down and meet!' And my answer is: If it yields results, that's what I'm interested in," he said.
(Additional reporting by Tabassum Zakaria and Susan Cornwell)
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