Washington – President Bush will tell the nation Thursday evening that he plans to reduce the American troop presence in Iraq by as many as 30,000 by next summer but will condition those and further The Associated Press has learned.
In a 15-minute address from the White House at 7 p.m. MDT, Bush will endorse the recommendations of his top general and top diplomat in Iraq, following their appearance at two days of hearings in Congress, administration officials said. The White House plans to issue a written status report on the troop buildup on Friday, they said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because Bush’s speech is not yet final. Bush was rehearsing and polishing his remarks even as the U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker were presenting their arguments for a second day on Capitol Hill.
Conciliatory tone
In the speech, the president will say he understands Americans’ deep concerns about U.S. involvement in Iraq and their desire to bring the troops home, the officials said. Bush will say that, after hearing from Petraeus and Crocker, he has decided on a way forward that will reduce the U.S. military presence but not abandon Iraq to chaos, the officials said.
The address will stake out a conciliatory tone toward Congress. But while mirroring Petraeus’ strategy, Bush will place more conditions on reductions than his general did, insisting that conditions on the ground must warrant cuts and that unforeseen events could change the plan.
Petraeus recommended that a 2,000-member Marine unit return home this month without replacement. That would be followed in mid-December with the departure of an Army brigade numbering 3,500 to 4,000 soldiers. Under the general’s plan, another four combat brigades would be withdrawn by July.
That could leave the U.S. with as few as 130,000-135,000 troops in Iraq, down from about 168,000 now, although Petraeus was not precise about whether all the roughly 8,000 support troops sent with those extra combat forces would be withdrawn by July.
Petraeus said he foresaw even deeper troop cuts beyond July, but he recommended that Bush wait until at least March to decide when to go below 130,000 – and at what pace.
At the White House, Bush met with House and Senate lawmakers of both parties and he publicly pledged to consider their views.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the president didn’t talk about the nationwide address.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Bush appears poised merely to bring the country back to where it was before the election that put Democrats in control of Congress – with 130,000 troops in Iraq.
“Please. It’s an insult to the intelligence of the American people that that is a new direction in Iraq,” she said. “We’re as disappointed as the public is that the president has a tin ear to their opinion on this war.”
Heated questioning
In Congress, cracks in Republican support for the Iraq war remained, as epitomized by heated questioning Tuesday of Petraeus.
“Is this a mission shift?” asked Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. “Are we continuing down the same path that we have laid out before, entirely reliant on the ability of the Iraqis to come together to achieve that political reconciliation?”
Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., said he wants a longer-term vision other than suggestions that Petraeus and Crocker return to Capitol Hill in mid-March to give another assessment.
“Americans want to see light at the end of the tunnel,” said Coleman.
But Petraeus’ testimony helped to solidify support elsewhere in the GOP, keeping Democrats far from the 60 votes they needed to pass legislation ordering troops home.
“Americans should be happy that we can begin to reduce troop levels months ahead of schedule,” said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M.
“Big nasty street fight”
Echoing testimony given to the House on Monday, Petraeus and Crocker acknowledged that Iraq remains largely dysfunctional but said violence had decreased since the influx of added U.S. troops.
Crocker said he fears that announcing troop pullouts, as Democrats want, would focus Iraqi attention on “building the walls, stocking ammunition and getting ready for a big nasty street fight” rather than striving for reconciliation.
“It will take longer than we initially anticipated” for Iraq’s leaders to address the country’s problems, he said.
