In his last State of the Union (SoU) address, robbed of its usual sheen by the hard-fought Presidential primaries, Bush urged the Congress not to derail his USD 150 billion package aimed at reviving the economy. The president said, “In the long run, Americans can be confident about our economic growth.”

Bush, whose term will end in January next year, argued there has been progress especially on the “surge” front and that as many as 20,000 troops are slated to return home. “General (David) Petraeus has warned that too fast a drawdown could result in, ‘the disintegration of the Iraqi security forces, al-Qaeda in Iraq regaining lost ground, and a marked increase in violence’ ... having come so far and achieved so much, we must not allow this to happen,” Bush told the lawmakers.

The Republican President warned Tehran that America will confront those who threaten its troops; stand by its allies and defend vital interests in the Persian Gulf. While accusing Iran of funding and training militia groups in Iraq, supporting Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon and backing Hamas’ efforts to undermine peace, he claimed Tehran was also developing ballistic missiles of increasing range and “continues to develop its capability to enrich uranium, which could be used to create a nuclear weapon”.Insisting that the US had nothing against the Iranian people, Bush said “our message to the leaders of Iran is also clear. Verifiably suspend your nuclear enrichment so negotiations can begin. And rejoin the community of nations, come clean about your nuclear intentions and past actions.”

Referring to the Doha Round of world trade talks, he said it was imperative to complete a good agreement this year. Bush  spoke of energy and climate change, an issue that is very dear to the Democrats in Congress who accused the Republican administration of practically doing nothing on the environmental front.
Mooting a new international fund to help developing nations like India and China make greater use of clean energy sources, Bush favoured a new global deal on cutting greenhouse gases.