Thread: Bush Embraces Pause In Troop Cutbacks; Warns Iran

Bush Embraces Pause In Troop Cutbacks; Warns Iran

Thursday, April 10, 2008 12:51 PM

WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Thursday ordered an indefinite halt in U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq after July, embracing the key recommendations of his top war commander. Bush said Gen. David Petraeus will ''have all the time he needs'' to consider when more American forces could return home.

Bush's decisions virtually guarantee a major U.S. presence in Iraq throughout his term in office in January, when a new president takes office.

In another major decision, the president announced he will seek to relieve the heavy strain on the Army by reducing the length of combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan to 12 months, down from the current level of 15 months. He said the change would take effect on Aug. 1, and would not affect U.S. forces already deployed on the front lines.

Bush said U.S. forces have made major gains since he ordered a buildup of about 30,000 U.S. forces last year. ''We have renewed and revived the prospect of success'' the president said.

Bush delivered his remarks in the Cross Hall of the White House before an audience of veterans' service groups and Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The president's decision had been foreshadowed by two days of testimony before a skeptical Congress by Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Baghdad. Now in its sixth year, the war has claimed the lives of more than 4,000 U.S. troops and cost more than $500 billion.

Iraq and the sagging economy have taken a heavy toll on the public's view of Bush. His job approval rating has fallen to just 28 percent, a new low in the Associated Press-Ipsos poll.

Bush said the United States would proceed with planned drawdowns of U.S. forces, bringing home the 30,000 troops he sent to Iraq last year to combat sectarian violence. The additional troops were also intended to help restore basic security and provide a sense of calm to allow Iraqi leaders to attempt to achieve political reconciliation.

''I've told him (Petraeus) he'll have all the time he needs,'' Bush said. ''Some have suggested that this period of evaluation will be a pause. That's misleading, because none of our operations in Iraq will be on hold. Instead we will use the months ahead to take advantage of the opportunities created by the surge and continue operations across the board.''

While acknowledging that ''serious and complex problems remain in Iraq,'' Bush said that ''a major strategic shift'' has occurred since the buildup.

''Today we have the initiative,'' the president said.

Bush also called on Congress to send him a spending bill for Iraq that does not include any timetables for troop withdrawals or exceed the $108 billion he has requested. Last spring, Congress added $17 billion in unrequested domestic add-ons such as children's health care, homeland security and heating subsidies.

Now, Democrats are eyeing using this year's war funding bill to stimulate the economy with road-building funds, additional unemployment benefits, a summer jobs program and additional food stamp benefits. The measure is slated to advance later this spring.

Bush said he would veto the spending measure if Congress fails to meet his conditions.

''While this war is difficult, it is not endless,'' Bush said in a message directed to troops, but surely to the American public as well.

The president said that only as conditions in Iraq improve will he bring more troops home, a policy he calls ''return on success.''

''The day will come when Iraq is a capable partner of the United States,'' Bush said. ''The day will come when Iraq's a stable democracy that helps fight our common enemies and promote our common interests in the Middle East.

''And when that day arrives, you'll come home with pride in your success,'' Bush said to the military and U.S. civilians in Iraq.

Bush used his speech to challenge Iran anew. He said the regime in Tehran has a choice to make: live in peace with its neighbor, or continue to fund and train militant groups that terrorize Iraqi people _ charges that the Tehran government denies.

''If Iran makes the right choice, America will encourage a peaceful relationship between Iran and Iraq,'' Bush said. ''Iran makes the wrong choice, America will act to protect our interests, and our troops, and our Iraqi partners.''

After his remarks, Bush boarded a helicopter on the South Lawn to begin a journey to Texas for a weekend at his ranch.

In remarks prepared for a Senate hearing later on Thursday, Gates said he and the senior military leadership at the Pentagon ''concur with the course the president has chosen in Iraq.''

''I do not anticipate this period of review to be an extended one, and I would emphasize that the hope is, conditions on the ground will allow us to reduce our presence further this fall,'' Gates said. ''But we must be realistic. The security situation in Iraq remains fragile and gains can be reversed.''

http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/Bush_E ... 86965.html

Powell: Troops in Iraq Must Be Reduced

Thursday, April 10, 2008 8:30 AM

WASHINGTON -- Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday that President Bush's successor will have to come to grips with the reality that the United States cannot continue to keep such large numbers of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Without taking sides in the race for the White House, Powell said, "Whichever one of them becomes president on Jan. 1, 2009, they will face a military force that cannot continue to sustain 140,000 people deployed in Iraq and the 20 (thousand) odd or 25,000 people we have deployed in Afghanistan and our other deployments."

Powell's comments in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America" seemed to undercut Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting John McCain's position that the U.S. should stay the course in Iraq. But Powell also said that the next president will face limitations on bringing troops home, as Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton _ rivals for the Democratic nomination _ have promised to do.

"They will have to continue to draw down at some pace," he said. "None of them are going to have the flexibility of just saying we're out of here, turn off the switch, turn off the lights, we're leaving. They will have a situation before them."

Powell, who is a former chairman of the military Joint Chiefs of Staff, argued publicly for the invasion of Iraq early in Bush's presidency. He said Thursday that he considers each of the presidential candidates a friend.

"I'm looking at all three candidates ... I have not decided who I will vote for yet," Powell said.

Powell praised Obama's response to controversial remarks by his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who said the United States brought the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on itself by supporting terrorism and that the government created the AIDS virus to "destroy people of color."

"I thought that Senator Obama handled the issue well," said Powell, the nation's first black secretary of state. "He didn't abandon the minister that brought him closer to his faith, but at the same time he deplored the kinds of statements that the Reverend Wright had made."

http://www.newsmax.com/politics/powell_ ... 86905.html

McCain Won't Rule Out Pre-Emptive War

Wednesday, April 9, 2008 6:29 PM

WESTPORT, Conn. -- Republican Sen. John McCain refused Wednesday to rule out a pre-emptive war against another country, although he said one would be very unlikely.

The likely Republican presidential nominee was asked Wednesday at a town-hall style meeting if he would reject "the Bush doctrine of pre-emptive war," a reference to Bush's decision to invade Iraq without it having attacked the United States.

"I don't think you could make a blanket statement about pre-emptive war, because obviously, it depends on the threat that the United States of America faces," McCain told his audience at Bridgewater Associates Inc., a global investment firm.

"If someone is about to launch a weapon that would devastate America, or have the capability to do so, obviously, you would have to act immediately in defense of this nation's national security interests."

McCain said he would consult more closely and more carefully "not with every member of Congress, but certainly the leaders of Congress."

The Iraq war was in the spotlight this week as Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander there, gave Congress a status report on the war. McCain argues for keeping troops in Iraq to capitalize on security gains, despite a recent outbreak of violence. His Democratic rivals, Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton argue for withdrawing troops.

http://www.newsmax.com/politics/mccain/ ... 86751.html