Iraq vote won’t end violence: Bush

President Bush acknowledged on Friday that the elections in Iraq were ‘‘not going to stop violence’’ there, and that &#1...

President Bush acknowledged on Friday that the elections in Iraq were ‘‘not going to stop violence’’ there, and that ‘‘we’re behind’’ on the training of capable Iraqi police forces.

In a lengthy interview with Jim Lehrer on the PBS programme ‘‘The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer,’’ he called the elections ‘‘a very important step, because part of our strategy is to encourage a political process that will marginalise those who want to use violence to achieve ends.’’ He also said there would be a reduction in the American force in Iraq by about 30,000 troops. The American force was bolstered by about that much, expanding to more than 160,000 troops for a few months, to provide security during the election campaign.

‘‘The elections won’t say, OK, the security situation has, you know, changed dramatically, because there are still people out there that are going to try to affect the political outcome, the political debate, with violence,’’ he said.‘‘However, as General Casey, the American commander in Iraq said, we’re behind when it comes to training the police forces, and one of the real challenges is to make sure that the police force does not become a haven for militia’’ controlled by political parties.

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‘‘If we have a policy of zero violence, it won’t be met,’’ Bush said in the interview. Asked if defining victory in terms that allowed violence to continue was an unusual definition of winning wars, he answered, ‘‘Yes.’’

Meanwhile, a group of US senators, demanding increased protection of civil liberties, defied Bush on Friday by blocking renewal of the USA Patriot Act, a centrepiece of his war on terrorism.

A showdown bid to end debate and move to passage of renewal legislation fell eight votes short of the needed 60 in the 100-member Senate. The vote was 52-47, with a handful of Republicans joining most Democrats in a procedural roadblock.

The Patriot Act was passed after the September 11, 2001, attacks to expand the authority of the federal government on fronts like information sharing, obtaining private records and conducting secret searches and also wiretaps in its effort to track down suspected terrorists.

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Approved by the House of Representatives this week, the renewal legislation would make permanent 14 provisions set to expire on December 31, and extend three others for four years.