Bush Declines To Promise Further Troop Reductions

I was just reading a story that has President Bush declining Saturday to promise more U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq before he leaves office, and underscored the need for a strong military presence during Iraqi provincial elections in October.

Security has improved markedly since last summer when the last of five Army brigades arrived in Iraq to complete the president's buildup of 30,000 troops. One brigade has already returned home and the four others are to leave by July. What remains unclear is whether Bush will order additional drawdowns in the final months of his presidency. "There is going to be enormous speculation," he said. "My sole criterion is, whatever we do, it ought to be in the context of success."

There is great concern among some of the top commanders, including Admiral Michael Mullen-Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs Of Staff, that the long deployments, and faster than normal rotations back into combat zones, is exhausting, and possibly "breaking" our Military. The fact that the "Surge" worked, was because of the "cop on every block" scenario, but as we draw down the Troops, will there be even more violence than we originally went in to quell. It would seem that the only question we should be asking is what is best for our Troops, not whether they continue to provide cover for an Iraqi government that is woefully lacking in any "Real" resolve to fix their country, and if that were not so, they could have done it by now!!






Bush Declines To Promise Further Troop Reductions