US President George W. Bush is expected to announce a plan to
cut troop levels in Iraq by 30,000 by mid 2008 when he addresses
the nation later this week, US officials told the media on
Tuesday.?
The speech will be delivered as early as Thursday and then the
White House is expected to deliver the long-awaited Iraq status
report on Friday, capping a week-long focus on the Iraq issue,
officials said on condition of anonymity.
In announcing troop drawdown, the president is adopting the
recommendations by top US officials in Iraq who testified on Iraq
issue on the Capitol Hill on Monday and Tuesday.
Gen. David Petraeus, the top US official in Iraq, told the
Congress on Monday that a Marine unit will depart Iraq later this
month and recommended cutting US troop levels there by a single
combat brigade or 4,000, in mid December.
Eventually, in his vision, the US troop levels in Iraq could
drop back to 130,000 next summer, or the level before the Bush
administration decided to send 30,000 additional troops to Iraq in
January to quell violence.
There are 168,000 US troops in Iraq, the highest level since the
war began.
However, the president is unlikely to change course in Iraq or
set a timetable to bring all troops home, as Democrats have been
demanding for so long.
He will also set strict conditions which will allow the
reduction of the forces.
Nevertheless, Bush will use the drawdown decision to mend fences
with the Congress and expressed his willingness to cooperate with
Democrats on the Iraq issue.
On Tuesday, he visited the Capitol Hill and met with leaders
from both parties.
"I've asked the (congressional) leadership to come and share
their thoughts about Iraq," Bush said, adding he wants to find some
common ground with the Congress on the Iraq issue.
However, many don't buy the troop drawdown decision, saying it
is a only political show.
According to a new Washington Post/ABC poll, two-thirds of
Americans said they believe Bush will hold to his current course no
matter what.
The Los Angles Times pointed out on Tuesday that the real
reason for the drawdown is that the US military is unable to
replace troops rotating from Iraq.
Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post wrote: "It's clear by now
that playing for time in Iraq is the real White House strategy.
Everything else is tactical maneuver and rhetorical legerdemain,
with which the administration is buying time, roughly in six-month
increments."
(Xinhua News Agency September 12, 2007)
