President Bush says the American voters expressed their support for his administration's policy in Iraq when they re-elected him to a second term in the White House.
In a Washington Post interview published today (Sunday), the president responded to a question about why no one has been held accountable for mistakes or misjudgments in Iraq by saying his policy was up for review by the American people in the November election.
(In the president's words, "We had an accountability moment ... called the 2004 election.")
Mr. Bush says the American people listened to different assessments about Iraq, looked at the two main candidates, then chose him.
The president has been conducting a series of interviews in advance of his inauguration to a second term on Thursday. (He met with two Washington Post reporters Friday about the presidential jet [Air Force One].) He told the newspaper he could not say when the number of U.S. troops in Iraq will be reduced.
Mr. Bush says American soldiers will leave Iraq "as quickly as possible," but not until they complete their mission, which includes training Iraqi security forces to fight terrorists.