President Bush will declare on Thursday that major combat in Iraq is finished.
In his speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, the president will stop short of declaring victory or saying the war is over, spokesman Ari Fleischer said Wednesday. Such declarations could trigger international provisions requiring the speedy release of prisoners of war and limit efforts to go after defeated Iraqi leaders.
Bush's advisers and GOP leaders see the speech as part of a process of turning the country's attention to Bush's domestic agenda after the military successes in Iraq.
Fleischer suggested that the president's words would be chosen carefully to keep from formally declaring the war to be over. Under the Geneva Convention, an international code of conduct that governs war and military conflict, once war is declared over the victorious army must release prisoners of war and halt operations targeting specific leaders.
"This is not, from a legal point of view, the end of hostilities. Clearly, we continue to have forces that are shot at," Fleischer said.
Meanwhile, Bush plans to announce as early as next week the appointment of career diplomat L. Paul Bremer as civilian administrator of postwar Iraq, Newsweek reported on Wednesday.
Bremer, a former State Department official, would have authority over retired Gen. Jay Garner who currently heads the rebuilding effort in Iraq, the magazine said.
The appointment of a civilian administrator over Garner had long been expected, but it was unclear whether it would be a Pentagon or State Department candidate, Newsweek said.
Recognized as one of the world's foremost authorities on terrorism, Bremer had a 23-year career in the U.S. diplomatic service under six secretaries of state. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
