White House rebuffs idea of partitioning Iraq

The U.S. White House on Thursday rebuffed a suggestion to partition war-torn Iraq to end the long and unpopular war.

The suggestion to divide Iraq into Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish regions, each with high degrees of autonomy, was a "nonstarter," White House spokesman Tony Snow told a news briefing.

Snow also rejected the discussion of phased military withdrawal from Iraq. He said a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops perhaps by 5 percent every two months, also was a "nonstarter."

"You withdraw when you win," Snow said. "Phased withdrawal is a way of saying, 'Regardless of what the conditions are on the ground, we're going to get out of Dodge.'"

Defending Bush's Iraq policy, Snow said Wednesday that U.S. has to win the war in Iraq.

The comment by the White House spokesman came at a time when the Bush administration got bogged down by the three-and-a-half- year-old Iraq war.

Criticizing Bush's Iraq policy that resulted in the surge of violence in the gulf Arab country and rapid growing of death toll of U.S. soldiers, some U.S. lawmakers are calling for a new strategy in Iraq, including suggestions to partition Iraq based on religious sects and phased troops withdrawal.

On Monday, Bush called Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, saying he has no plans to pull U.S. forces out the country and pledged full support for the Iraqi government, the White House said.

Source: Xinhua