Bush hints at 'fewer' troops in Iraq
Saturday, 8 September 2007
Demetri Sevastopulo from Al Asad, Iraq
President George W. Bush this week raised the prospect of withdrawing some US troops from Iraq if the security situation improved.
During a surprise visit to Anbar, a province declared "lost" to violence by US military intelligence only last year, Mr Bush said the "surge" strategy of sending 30,000 extra troops was succeeding.
"Here in Anbar and across Iraq, al-Qaeda and other enemies of freedom will continue to try to kill the innocent in order to impose their dark ideology," said Mr Bush, after meeting Nouri al-Maliki, Iraqi prime minister, and the senior Iraqi leadership, including about 10 tribal sheikhs from Anbar.
"But General [David] Petraeus [top US commander in Iraq] and Ambassador [Ryan] Crocker tell me if the kind of success we are now seeing continues, it will be possible to maintain the same level of security with fewer American forces."
Mr Bush was joined by Robert Gates, defence secretary, Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, Peter Pace, chairman of the joint chiefs of staffs, Gen Petraeus and Mr Crocker, for the unusual overseas "war council" meeting.
The convening of the president's war cabinet in Iraq a week before Gen Petraeus and Mr Crocker present their assessment of the "surge" to Congress appeared designed to rally domestic support for the White House amid mounting pressure from Democrats and Republicans to shift policy on Iraq. John Warner, a senior Republican, last week openly criticised the president's handling of the war and urged him to begin a withdrawal.
Mr Bush urged the US Congress on Monday to wait until Gen Petraeus and Mr Crocker gave their assessment before "jumping to conclusions".
Drawing cheers from troops based at al-Asad, Mr Bush said the US would withdraw from Iraq only from "a position of strength and success" not "fear and failure", and that any decision would be based "on a calm assessment by the military commanders on the ground, not a nervous reaction by politicians and the media".
The US has welcomed the improved security in Anbar but Shia lawmakers in the central government, including Mr al-Maliki, have expressed concern that the US is arming Sunni militias that could later rise against Shia groups. A top defence official suggested that Monday's visit of Mr Maliki to Anbar could help ease some of the mistrust.
US commanders want to incorporate Sunni fighters in Anbar into the Iraqi security forces, thereby shrinking militias and helping political reconciliation.
With unfortunate timing, British forces completed withdrawal from their last position in Basra city, in the south of Iraq. The pull-out leaves UK troops based at one site, Basra airport, in what Gordon Brown, UK prime minister, called an "overwatch" rather than a "combat" role.
Under syndication arrangement with FE
President George W. Bush this week raised the prospect of withdrawing some US troops from Iraq if the security situation improved.
During a surprise visit to Anbar, a province declared "lost" to violence by US military intelligence only last year, Mr Bush said the "surge" strategy of sending 30,000 extra troops was succeeding.
"Here in Anbar and across Iraq, al-Qaeda and other enemies of freedom will continue to try to kill the innocent in order to impose their dark ideology," said Mr Bush, after meeting Nouri al-Maliki, Iraqi prime minister, and the senior Iraqi leadership, including about 10 tribal sheikhs from Anbar.
"But General [David] Petraeus [top US commander in Iraq] and Ambassador [Ryan] Crocker tell me if the kind of success we are now seeing continues, it will be possible to maintain the same level of security with fewer American forces."
Mr Bush was joined by Robert Gates, defence secretary, Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, Peter Pace, chairman of the joint chiefs of staffs, Gen Petraeus and Mr Crocker, for the unusual overseas "war council" meeting.
The convening of the president's war cabinet in Iraq a week before Gen Petraeus and Mr Crocker present their assessment of the "surge" to Congress appeared designed to rally domestic support for the White House amid mounting pressure from Democrats and Republicans to shift policy on Iraq. John Warner, a senior Republican, last week openly criticised the president's handling of the war and urged him to begin a withdrawal.
Mr Bush urged the US Congress on Monday to wait until Gen Petraeus and Mr Crocker gave their assessment before "jumping to conclusions".
Drawing cheers from troops based at al-Asad, Mr Bush said the US would withdraw from Iraq only from "a position of strength and success" not "fear and failure", and that any decision would be based "on a calm assessment by the military commanders on the ground, not a nervous reaction by politicians and the media".
The US has welcomed the improved security in Anbar but Shia lawmakers in the central government, including Mr al-Maliki, have expressed concern that the US is arming Sunni militias that could later rise against Shia groups. A top defence official suggested that Monday's visit of Mr Maliki to Anbar could help ease some of the mistrust.
US commanders want to incorporate Sunni fighters in Anbar into the Iraqi security forces, thereby shrinking militias and helping political reconciliation.
With unfortunate timing, British forces completed withdrawal from their last position in Basra city, in the south of Iraq. The pull-out leaves UK troops based at one site, Basra airport, in what Gordon Brown, UK prime minister, called an "overwatch" rather than a "combat" role.
Under syndication arrangement with FE