Dearborn (Michigan), Apr 29: President George W Bush today vowed to see Iraq through to democracy and claimed that the US-led occupation there was already improving the lives of Saddam Hussein's former subjects "hour by hour." "It'll be a hard journey, but every step of the way, Iraq will have a steady friend in the American people," he told a cheering crowd in this primarily Arab-American enclave in an address seemingly tuned to Arab ears. The speech and an earlier roundtable discussion with Arab-Americans seemed aimed as much at West Asia as to his immediate audience: The White House opened the latter to several West Asian news media but their US colleagues had to protest to get access. During the roundtable, which included dozens of Iraqi-Americans, Bush put a swift end to an incipient debate that foreshadows the challenges Washington faces as it works to forge a democratic, unified, Iraq.
Iraq-born Dr Asad Khailany, a computer expert who witnessed Saddam's chemical weapons attack on Halabja in 1988, was suggesting that Iraq should become a federation comprising three autonomous or semi-autonomous regions when Tarik Daoud, a car dealer who was born in Basra, rose to object.

"We're not going to have a debate on the form of the government," Bush said. "This debate is going to take place within Iraq."

In his speech, Bush said the United States "has no intention of imposing our form of government or our culture" but will ensure that Iraq's new government "will protect the rights of all."

Bureau Report