Bush Not Considering Iraq Troop Pullout (NYT report denied)

[grytpype]

Source: Washington Post

Bush Not Considering Iraq Troop Pullout

By TERENCE HUNT
The Associated Press
Monday, July 9, 2007; 11:07 AM

WASHINGTON -- President Bush is not contemplating withdrawing forces from Iraq now despite an erosion of support among Republicans for his war policy, the White House said Monday.

The administration also tried to lower expectations about a report due Sunday on whether the Iraqi government is meeting political, economic and security benchmarks that Bush set in January when he announced a buildup of 21,500 U.S. combat forces. White House press secretary Tony Snow said that all of the additional troops had just gotten in place and it would be unrealistic to expect major progress now.

"You are not going to expect all the benchmarks to be met at the beginning of something," Snow said. "You are hoping that you are going to be able to see progress in terms of meeting benchmarks from that beginning stage to what you see in two months."

But at the same time, he said that Sept. 15 is not "the drop dead date" by which everything should be completed.

...

"There is no debate right now on withdrawing forces right now from Iraq," Snow said.

"The president has said many times that as conditions require and merit that there will be in fact withdrawals and also pulling back from areas of Baghdad and so on," the press secretary said. "But the idea of trying to make a political judgment rather than a military judgment about how to have forces in the field is simply not true."


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/09/AR2007070900650.html

---

So the story hasn't changed. We'll pull out when we win. We aren't winning yet but it's too early to call it a failure, it will be too early in September too.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. No, notice what he said...

"There is no debate right now on withdrawing..."

Right. No debate. They know they have to, they just don't know how.

Now if he had said "there is no debate on how to withdraw" that would be different.

[SoFlaJet]

2. Not that anyone here really believes

that he won't do everything in his power to keep the war going up until the minute he and his cabal are OUT of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for good

[sakabatou]

3. Because as you know

The more blood spilled over there means less blood spilled here. Heh, heh, heh.

[sallyseven]

4. Who the hell died

and left him in charge of the universe?

[sabra]

5. White House denies considering Iraq pullbacks

Source: CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush's spokesman on Monday denied a published report that described intensifying debate among White House officials over whether to begin a gradual pullback of U.S. troops in Iraq.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said a story in The New York Times about a proposed "gradual withdrawal"of forces in "high-casualty neighborhoods in Baghdad and other cities" is "way ahead of the facts."

"There's no debate right now on withdrawing forces from Iraq," Snow said.

The report and denial come as GOP support for the president's war policy erodes and as the Senate prepares to take up a major defense spending bill. Also, the Pentagon is focusing major attention on its upcoming report to Congress about U.S. benchmarks for Iraqi lawmakers aimed at reducing sectarian and insurgent violence.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/07/09/congress.iraq/index.html

[Drifter]

6. Bring it on ... said the AWOL chimp ...

He is just daring the Congress to impeach him.

Cheers
Drifter

[ChairmanAgnostic]

7. typical.

they leak a report, then deny it, then wait to see how the wind blows. It makes the NYT look foolish, and provides them with cover because the story becomes what MIGHT the White House be discussing, rather than the need to change our entire policy.

This is a rovian classic. They are scared shitless that more GOPers will be joining the gang of 6 or 7. They are worried that the house will be even worse, considering that little coverage or attention has been paid to them. (making the GOP congresscritters grateful for small favors, as 2008 approacheth.) This gives the WH deniability, coverage, and confuses the issue so we forget the real issue - leaving iraq now.

[classysassy]

8. Mr President

you can't fight without funds and troops.Congress should cut off funding this war.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

9. Story wrong about Iraq pullback, White House says

Source: CNN


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush's spokesman on Monday denied a published report that described intensifying debate among White House officials over whether to begin a gradual pullback of U.S. troops in Iraq.

"We can't wait" for September's scheduled military policy review on Iraq war, said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada. 1 of 2 White House spokesman Tony Snow said a story in The New York Times about a proposed "gradual withdrawal"of forces in "high-casualty neighborhoods in Baghdad and other cities" is "way ahead of the facts."

"There is no intensifying discussion about reducing troops," said Snow during his daily briefing for reporters. He said the so-called "surge," or increase of nearly 30,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, has been complete for only a matter of weeks.

"The surge is not an open-ended commitment, it's not an occupation," said Snow. "It's a surge ... to create space so that we can achieve as swiftly as possible some of those basic necessities for the Iraqi people to be able to step up and stand in the lead. And then at that point, the Americans step back into less visible, more support positions." Watch what Snow says about discussions in the White House


Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/07/09/congress.iraq/index.html

[blitzen]

10. "Story wrong about 3606 US troop deaths in Iraq, Whitehouse says"

deny deny deny

[Jim__]

11. a story in The New York Times about a proposed "gradual withdrawal"of forces ... is "way ahead of th

What is that supposed to mean? Does it mean we haven't yet begun withdrawing the troops?

[Ian David]

12. "The Surge" is just to keep Iraqi government officials alive long enough...

to sign away ownership of the oil fields.

[rodeodance]

13. umm. Wonder what the paper response will be??-----

[rodeodance]

14. REC.

[rodeodance]

15. NYTimes story here:

Forum Name Latest Breaking News
Topic subject In White House, Debate Is Rising on Iraq Pullback
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2909145#2909145
2909145, In White House, Debate Is Rising on Iraq Pullback
Posted by jefferson_dem on Sun Jul-08-07 09:41 PM

Source: NYT

In White House, Debate Is Rising on Iraq Pullback
By DAVID E. SANGER
Published: July 9, 2007

White House officials fear that the last pillars of political support among Senate Republicans for President Bush’s Iraq strategy are collapsing around them, according to several administration officials and outsiders they are consulting. They say that inside the administration, debate is intensifying over whether Mr. Bush should try to prevent more defections by announcing his intention to begin a gradual withdrawal of American troops from the high-casualty neighborhoods of Baghdad and other cities.

Mr. Bush and his aides once thought they could wait to begin those discussions until after Sept. 15, when the top field commander and the new American ambassador to Baghdad are scheduled to report on the effectiveness of the troop increase that the president announced in January. But suddenly, some of Mr. Bush’s aides acknowledge, it appears that forces are combining against him just as the Senate prepares this week to begin what promises to be a contentious debate on the war’s future and financing.

Four more Republican senators have recently declared that they can no longer support Mr. Bush’s strategy, including senior lawmakers who until now had expressed their doubts only privately. As a result, some aides are now telling Mr. Bush that if he wants to forestall more defections, it would be wiser to announce plans for a far more narrowly defined mission for American troops that would allow for a staged pullback, a strategy that he rejected in December as a prescription for defeat when it was proposed by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group.

“When you count up the votes that we’ve lost and the votes we’re likely to lose over the next few weeks, it looks pretty grim,” said one senior official, who, like others involved in the discussions, would not speak on the record about internal White House deliberations.

<SNIP>

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/09/washington/09prexy.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

[bhamlett]

16. GOP Iraq critics get a White House shrug

Source: Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — As the Senate began a new debate Monday on the war in Iraq, the White House brushed off calls from a growing chorus of Republican lawmakers to change course in the conflict.

"The president wants to withdraw troops based on the facts on the ground, not on the matter of politics," White House Press Secretary Tony Snow told reporters. Later, he added: "There is no intensifying discussion about reducing troops."

Snow also tried to minimize the differences between President Bush and his GOP critics on Capitol Hill by explaining that the president also wanted to bring home the troops.

In the last two weeks, several senior Senate Republicans — including a few loyal supporters of Bush's war strategy — have publicly declared the troop increase a failure and urged him to begin planning a withdrawal...

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-warvote10jul10,1,1944606.story?coll=la-news-a_section

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Isn't the growing chorus of calls for a change of course based upon the facts on the ground?

[youngdem]

17. It's not a shrug, it's a wink !

IF the 'rebel' Repukes were REALLY speaking out against the war without White House permission, the White House would seek to destroy them - like they do everyone else.

In fact, one of the main ways you can tell these Repuke 'conversions' are a fake, political ploy is that the White House is completely silent on their dissent....While Dems with the same position are excoriated regularly.

The White House and vulnerable Repukes are allowing this charade...And the public is gobbling it up apparently.