President George W. Bush today refused to set a timetable for removing the 140,000 U.S. troops from Iraq but warned that an immediate withdrawal would lead to "mayhem and bloodshed." "The mission is for there to be a democratic Iraq, where they have elections to elect their government," Bush said. "We will stay there until the job is completed and our commanders on the ground tell us." "At this point in time, if a vacuum were created, anarchy would reign and there would be mayhem and bloodshed," Bush warned a convention of 7,000 minority journalists. "We've got to stay with the Iraqi leaders until they achieve the objective" of building a democratic Iraq, he said. Asked to set a timetable for withdrawing forces from the U.S.-led coalition, Bush replied, "He's trying to get me to put a timetable out there. I'm not going to do it." But the president said that "the key to success" is how quickly Iraq's new security forces could be trained and equipped and able to confront insurgencies and terrorists. "The ultimate success of our venture in Iraq, which is a free and democratic country, will depend upon how quickly we can help the Iraqis defend themselves," he said.
