Don’t show Iran US is a paper tiger, says Bush

US President George W Bush has warned that a hasty pull-out from Iraq would ruin fragile progress there and embolden Iran.

US President George W Bush has warned that a hasty pull-out from Iraq would ruin fragile progress there and convince extremists and Iran that the United States is a ‘paper tiger.’

“Failure in Iraq would embolden the extremists. Failure in Iraq would say to thugs and killers, the United States is a paper tiger,” Bush said in a speech in Las Vegas. “Failure in Iraq would embolden Iran.”

Bush also painted his most rosy picture in months of the situation in Iraq, but left open the possibility that he could leave office in January 2009 with more US troops there than before he ‘surged’ 30,000 more soldiers last year.

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“You know, a lot of folks say, well, what’s next, Mister President? And my answer is, we have come too far in this important theater in this war on terror not to make sure that we succeed,” he said.

Bush noted that roughly 20,000 more US troops were expected to come home by July, but emphasized that “any further troop reductions will be based upon commanders and conditions.”

And the unpopular president left no doubt that the US public’s lack of support for the war would not shape his decisions on troop levels – despite the potential political peril for his party ahead of November elections.

“I will be making decisions based upon success in Iraq. The temptation, of course, is for people to say, well, ‘make sure you do the politically right thing.’ That’s not my nature,” he said.

“The surge is working,” Bush said.