Bush: Few troop pullouts by term's end

by Mark Silva

It was Donald Rumsfeld, the former secretary of defense, who famously said, "You go to war with the Army you have.''

And now President Bush effectively is saying that the United States will fight the war in Iraq with the Army it has there through the end of his term:

A Marine battalion of about 1,000 will come home in November, the president said, but not until February 2009 -- after he has left office -- will more forces start withdrawing: An Army brigade of about 4,000 will leave then, along with about 3,400 combat support forces - military police, construction engineers and the like.

In total, this means that about 8,000 people will be coming home, without replacement, by February. And in the first half of the new year, Bush said today at the National Defense University in Washington, more troops should be able to withdraw from Iraq - conditions permitting.

While all five of the combat brigades and the Marine battalions and expeditionary force that were deployed to Iraq as part of the president's "surge'' of military forces have returned, the pace of the coming withdrawals - 1,000 this fall, and another 7,000 by February - is perhaps slower than the pace that Republican presidential nominee John McCain may have anticipated, based on the "success'' of the surge.

And it certainly is slower than the two-brigade-per-month withdrawal that Democrat Barack Obama is proposing. Which means the debate over the war will continue into Election Day on Nov. 4.

"Reduced levels of violence in Iraq have been sustaiend for several months,'' Bush said in his address today. "The progress in Iraq is fragile and still reversible,'' he said, but General David Petraeus, recommending the pace of withdrawals in the months ahead, has told him it appears "durable.''

Why not a swifter withdrawal?

"What I can tell you is that Gen. Petraeus made his recommendation up through the change of command,'' Dana Perino, the White House press secretary, said today.

"I can't tell you why he didn't choose something else, but he did accept their recommendation,'' Perino said. "President Bush thinks that taking 8,000 troops out is the recommendation from the Pentagon and the one that is prudent now... Either way, people would question, should we send more or send less... He thinks he hit it about right.''

"The bottom line,'' Bush said today, "is while the enemy in Iraq is dangerous, we have seized the offensive... We have been able to carry out a policy of return on success.'' He called today's announcement "the next step forward in our policy of return on success.''

All of the "surge'' forces have come home, and military deployments have been returned to 12-month tours of duty. "This change will ease the burden on our forces,'' the president said. "This change will make life for military families easier.''

Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said: "The president's plan to reduce force levels in Iraq may seem to signal movement in the right direction, but it really defers troop reductions until the next administration. More significant troop reductions in Iraq are needed so that we can start to rebuild U.S. military readiness and provide the additional forces needed to finish the fight in Afghanistan.''