Under growing domestic pressure, U.S. President George W. Bush announced Thursday a partial pullback of about 30,000 troops from Iraq by next summer, while warning a full withdrawal could endanger the Iraqi government's survival.
"RETURN ON SUCCESS"
"Because of the measure of success we are seeing in Iraq, we can begin seeing troops come home," Bush said in a prime-time televised address to the nation.
The president said 2,200 Marines are coming home immediately and will not be replaced, and an Army brigade of 3,500 will be out of Iraq by Christmas.
Noting that troops must "return on success," the president said he will further withdraw five brigades by mid-July 2008, leaving about 137,000 U.S. troops in place by next summer.
"The principle guiding my decisions on troop levels in Iraq is 'return on success,'" Bush said.
"The more successful we are, the more American troops can return home. ... Our success in meeting these objectives now allows us to begin bringing some of our troops home."
While Bush attempts to portray the redeployment as a troop withdrawal, there will actually be 7,000 more troops in Iraq next summer than there were before Bush deployed additional forces to Iraq in this January as part of a troop surge plan to quell sectarian violence.
In his more than 16-minute address, Bush also noted that any troop pullback will be heavily conditioned on the stability in Iraq -- far from the rapid withdrawal of troops wanted by Democratic leaders in Congress.
Bush also attempted to convince the public he is applying pressure on Iraqi national leaders to work together to achieve political reconciliation.
"The government has not met its own legislative benchmarks, and in my meetings with Iraqi leaders, I have made it clear that they must," Bush said.
LONG-TERM ENGAGEMENT
In his eighth prime time address on Iraq since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the president also made it clear that U.S. engagement in Iraq will go beyond his presidency, which ends in January 2009.
Trying to quiet his critics, Bush said his new plan "makes it possible, for the first time in years, for people who have been on opposite sides of this difficult debate to come together."
The president also described his Iraq strategy as part of a larger policy in the Middle East.
The president's address comes after two days of testimonial hearings on Capitol Hill by Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military official in Iraq, and Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, the top diplomat, telling lawmakers that the troop surge strategy in the United States has had "uneven success".
CONFRONTING PUBLIC SKEPTICISM
The president also tried to confront American public's increasingly skepticism that if the four-year-old conflict is making the country safer -- something the top U.S. military general in Iraq had trouble confirming on Capitol Hill this week when he said he didn't know whether the Iraq War strategy would make America any safer.
Bush portrayed the Iraq conflict as he has in the past, as a key component of a broader war against al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.
"In Iraq, an ally of the United States is fighting for its survival," said Bush.
"Terrorists and extremists who are at war with us around the world are seeking to topple Iraq's government, dominate the region and attack us here at home," he added.
Addressing Democrats and lawmakers within Republican ranks who have called for a drawdown of troops, Bush said, "Americans want our country to be safe, and our troops to begin coming home from Iraq."
"Yet those of us who believe success in Iraq is essential to our security, and those who believe we should bring our troops home, have been at odds. Now, because of the measure of success we are seeing in Iraq, we can begin seeing troops come home."
Bush said if all U.S. troops were to leave Iraq now, "extremists of all strains would be emboldened."
"We would leave our children to face a far more dangerous world," he said.
REBUTTAL FROM DEMOCRATS
At the end of the speech, Bush plead for cooperation from the Congress, especially from the Democrats.
"Let us come together on a policy of strength in the Middle East. I thank you for providing crucial funds and resources for our military. And I ask you to join me in supporting the recommendations Gen. Petraeus has made and the troop levels he has asked for," he said.
However, he received even more fierce rebuttal from the Democrats.
Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island was selected by his party to rebut the president's address.
"Once again, the president failed to provide either a plan to successfully end the war or a convincing rationale to continue it, " Reed said soon after Bush's speech.
Among the clamor to assail Bush, one of the candidates running to replace Bush has found a unique way to be heard.
Democratic presidential candidate, former Sen. John Edwards bought two minutes of air time on MSNBC to air after Bush's televised address.
"Unfortunately, the president is pressing on with the only strategy he's ever had, more time, more troops, and more war," Edwards says in the ad.
Edwards has been pushing the Congress, along with his 2008 rivals Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, to vote against legislation that would further fund the war without a withdrawal date.
Source: Xinhua
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