Year in review: President Bush
The AP looks back on the challenges president Bush faced in his last year in office
George W Bush hoped his last year as president will be remembered for scenes like these: troops hoist to come home in triumph from Iraq where bloodshed is dramatically down. You have shown that there is no task too difficult for the United States military. But now Bush's final year will also be known for unprecedented financial panic. The massive Federal rescue that has stanched free market tear was then forced to order and the historic economic downturn that engulf the country. If you don't take decisive measures, then it's conceivable that our country keep going into a depression, greater than the greater depression. And if that weren't enough, though the Iraq war is going better, many Iraqis still smolder as Bush found out during a year and a news conference there. At meantime, Afghanistan is dramatically worse, US intelligence says the war there is spiraling downward, and commanders are scrambling to send in more troops. Against that background, Bush's poll number sank to record loans,so low that GOP candidates shunned him during the campaign, but still took a feeting on the Election Night, that means Bush will soon hand the keys to the oval office to the other Party. Yet looking back, he tells reporters he's got no regrets. When the time comes on January the 20th, Laura and I will return home to Texas, we treasure the memories of our time here. Still, Bush makes no secret, he's counting the days. Mark Smith, the Associated Press, the White House.