WASHINGTON, Sept 14: US President George W. Bush plans to withdraw 5,700 combat troops from Iraq by Christmas but has rejected calls to leave the Arab state.In a televised address to his nation, Mr Bush warned that the United States must not abandon Iraq while it is “fighting for its survival.” “The principle guiding my decisions on troop levels in Iraq is: return on success. The more successful we are, the more American troops can return home,” he said.
In his 17-minute address from the Oval Office, President Bush acknowledged that the US engagement in Iraq will continue long after he completes his second term next year. Success in Iraq, he said, “will require US political, economic and security engagement that extends beyond my presidency.”
Mr Bush nevertheless trumpeted a modest troop withdrawal he claimed was finally possible because his strategy is working in a conflict that has killed nearly 3,800 Americans in more than four years of war.
Urging his nation to back a war two-thirds of the country opposes, Mr Bush struck a conciliatory tone, thanking Congress for funding the mission and asking it to join in his “way forward.” There was no hint of compromise, however, only an appeal to his critics, particularly in Congress, to endorse his blueprint, an unlikely prospect. “Some say the gains we are making in Iraq come too late,” he said. “They are mistaken. It is never too late to deal a blow to Al Qaeda. It is never too late to advance freedom. And it is never too late to support our troops in a fight they can win.”
Mr Bush rubber-stamped the recommendations of his highly regarded military commander, Gen David Petraeus, whose report to Congress this week ratified the president’s stay-the-course policy - and delayed Democrats’ plan for legislating an early end to an unpopular war.
The US president said 2,200 troops from a Marine expeditionary unit will leave Iraq this month, and a 3,500-strong Army brigade will be home by Christmas. He also expects to bring five more combat brigades home - the rest of the 30,000-troop “surge” he sent to Iraq in January - by next July.
Mr Bush’s plan, which offers no dramatic change in his Iraq policy, sets the stage for a fiery political debate in Congress and on the 2008 presidential campaign trail.
The plan, however, gives Republicans who still support Mr Bush a reason to continue to stay with him. Democrats have already rejected Mr Bush’s approach as unacceptable. Senator Jack Reed, who delivered the Democratic response to Mr Bush’s speech, said that “once again, the president failed to provide either a plan to successfully end the war or a convincing rationale to continue it.”
Mr Reed pledged that Democrats will work to “profoundly change” the US military involvement in Iraq.
