Bush "impressed by the determination of the people" as anti-U.S. occupation insurgency grows

Six months after Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced a reduction in U.S. troops in Iraq, the Pentagon made the obvious public: the economy and security of Iraq are getting worse under the control of the United States military. It should come as no surprise that drug abuse is on the rise there as violence, insecurity, unemployment, and despair continue to grow. The recent killing of 24 Iraqi civilians by U.S. Marines in Haditha seems to be the norm rather than the exception.