Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Politics

Bush cites gains in troop rollback

Extra troops to begin coming home, but a long Iraq alliance is seen.

A president running out of time, confronted by a nation running out of patience, outlined short-term troop reductions in Iraq on Thursday but called for a long-term alliance that could keep U.S. forces there long after he leaves office.

The move did little to appease Democratic leaders, who dismissed it as a token gesture masking an open-ended commitment of U.S. troops.

Bush said progress on the ground means he can pull out by next summer the additional combat forces he sent in January, or roughly 21,500 troops, and he opened the door to further troop reductions if conditions improve.

Although he offered no forecast for how long it will take, Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said Thursday that current U.S. projections anticipate Iraq reaching nationwide "sustainable security" by June 2009.

Administration officials have said that they hope to bring down forces substantially by the time Iraq reaches such a state, moving to a more limited mission aimed at supporting Iraqi forces and hunting down al-Qaida cells. Thursday's decision by the president signals the beginning of what one official called a "gradual change in mission" away from population security - the priority Bush adopted in January - toward turning the lead role over to Iraqis.

The president's upbeat assessment of the situation in Iraq during a nationally televised address Thursday night was shadowed by the killing earlier in the day of a Sunni sheik who led the turnaround of a key province in alliance with U.S. forces.

While Bush stressed the positive, a new White House report on Iraq, to be released today, shows slim progress, concluding that Iraq is making "satisfactory" progress on nine of 18 political, economic and security benchmarks, just one more than in July, administration officials said.

But the president said such progress is enough to justify the beginning of a modest pullout, starting with 5,700 troops by Christmas.

"Now, because of the measure of success we are seeing in Iraq, we can begin seeing troops come home," he said. "The way forward I have described tonight makes it possible, for the first time in years, for people who have been on opposite sides of this difficult debate to come together."

He coined a slogan to describe his latest strategy, "Return on Success," meaning that further progress will enable further withdrawals. "The more successful we are, the more American troops can return home," Bush said. "And in all we do, I will ensure that our commanders on the ground have the troops and flexibility they need to defeat the enemy."

At the same time, Bush warned that substantial numbers of U.S. troops will be in Iraq for years to come. Iraqi leaders "understand that their success will require U.S. political, economic and security engagement that extends beyond my presidency," he said.

The president's speech followed congressional testimony this week by Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, both of whom warned that a rapid withdrawal of U.S. forces could plunge Iraq into even greater instability. Bush's troop reductions reflect recommendations offered by the two.

The president's call for critics to "come together" behind his new approach appeared to fall on deaf ears among congressional Democrats, who accused him of exaggerating results of the troop buildup.

"The choice is between a Democratic plan for responsible redeployment and the president's plan for an endless war in Iraq," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

In the official televised Democratic response, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said Bush's plan "does not amount to real change" and he vowed that Congress will "profoundly change" U.S. war policy.

"Once again, the president failed to provide either a plan to successfully end the war or a convincing rationale to continue it," Reed said.

Information from the Washington Post, Cox News and the Associated Press was used in this report.

Fast facts

Numbers unclear

Although President Bush said he would withdraw five Army combat brigades and several Marine units by next summer, the White House was careful not to be pinned down on just how many soldiers would remain.

Currently: There are about 169,000 American troops in Iraq - that includes 20 combat brigades, a number that is to drop to 15 under the new plan - as well as a roughly equivalent number of support forces.

How many in a brigade? Officials also said it was difficult to give a firm figure, noting that there can be from 3,500 to 4,500 soldiers or even more.

After withdrawal: The announced withdrawals would remove the same number of combat units sent to Iraq as part of the surge ordered by Bush this year. But the White House said troop totals may not return to exactly 133,000, the number deployed before the so-called surge began, because of the need to keep in place specialized units, like military police and helicopter squadrons.

[Last modified September 14, 2007, 00:22:01]