President Bush said Thursday night conditions on the ground in Iraq have improved sufficiently to start bringing some U.S. troops home, and urged Americans divided over the war to "come together."
In a televised speech to the nation, Bush said he would reduce U.S. force strength by 5,700 troops by Christmas and, by next July, reduce the number of combat brigades from 20 to 15 -- a decrease of roughly 21,500 troops overall.
Well, it looks like we will soon be (in troop levels) back down to pre-surge levels.
I won't hold my breath on the 21,500 by next July. That sounds like a lot of talk to just appease people.
Despite progress in Iraq, Petraeus told Congress this week that it would be premature to announce withdrawal plans for the 130,000 U.S. troops who will remain after the five brigades leave by next summer.
Which means, like in many situations in the past four years, the next year plans are a pipe dream.
Petraus, by the way, sounded more politician than general in his testimony. Talk about double-talk. Why can't anyone from the Bush Administration just answer the damn question?
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