(AP) - President Bush says the recent increase in violence in oil-rich southern Iraq and parts of Baghdad presents "a defining moment in the history of Iraq" as the government seeks to rout out Shiite militias.
"It's going to take awhile, but it's a necessary part of the development of a free society," Bush said at a White House news confernce with visiting Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
Bush's comments followed U.S. airstrikes in both the southern city of Basra and in a Shiite militia stronghold in Baghdad. The renewed violence came as tensions rose among followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr angered by a crackdown that has threatened to unravel a militia cease-fire.
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