Bush preserves big troop level in Iraq

[rodeodance]

Source: ap




Bush preserves big troop level in Iraq

By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer 12 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - President Bush's claim that progress in Iraq justifies preserving a large U.S. military presence there for at least 10 more months was shadowed by discouraging developments on the security and political fronts.


Friday morning, 12 hours after Bush's address to the nation, the White House was to report that Iraqi leaders had gained almost no new ground in meeting U.S. benchmarks on bringing about reconciliation and stability. The report being sent to Congress by the White House underscored the difficulty of Bush's argument that American sacrifice was creating space for political progress by Iraqis.

Other bad news hit 12 hours before Bush's speech, when Iraqi police reported the assassination in Anbar province of a prominent figure in a local alliance with U.S. troops against al-Qaida. It was a sharp blow to Bush's frequent celebration of military gains in that region as a model for the rest of the country.

In his 18-minute remarks Thursday night, the president ordered U.S. troop levels to drop to a point they were already slated to reach, while saying they would start seven months sooner than scheduled.
.............


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070914/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_iraq;_ylt=As32_.De4hYHnUiGPhmLI6Ks0NUE

[Roland99]

1. I been walking the streets at night...just tryin to get it right

All we need is patience...




Yeah, that's *all* we need. :sarcasm:

[Mutley]

2. But, but, but

we're winning over there! Right?! RIGHT???

:silly:

Edit:

This article says differently. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/13/AR2007091301746.html?hpid=topnews

Unfortunately, you have to have a subscription to read the Post online, but the headline is "Bush Tells Nation He Will Begin 'Surge' Rollback".

:shrug:

[underpants]

3. This is a slam by the AP

I was just about to post this. Wow they tore him apart (in terms of MSM) completely nullifying this entire PR move (the visit to Anbar, Patraeus, etc.). Good to see.

[rodeodance]

4. Bush buys more time to make mark in Iraq

Source: usaToday




Bush buys more time to make mark in Iraq
Updated 6h 46m ago

Despite predictions after last year's election setbacks that he would have no choice but to reduce troop levels and limit the U.S. mission, Bush continues to stake his presidency on the chance for a military and political turnaround in Iraq before he leaves office.

"Some say the gains we are making in Iraq come too late," he said in an address Thursday from the Oval Office. "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."

In his eighth prime-time appeal since the U.S.-led invasion four years ago, the president endorsed the recommendations Petraeus detailed before congressional panels this week. Bush proposed withdrawing by July 25,000 combat troops deployed in this year's increase and waiting until March before weighing what comes next for about 130,000 U.S. troops still deployed there. Left unclear were plans for 8,000 support troops...........

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-09-13-speechanalysis_N.htm?csp=1

---

This headline says it all. it is what is wanted and he got it.

[PSPS]

5. Well, I guess that's that.

The media has spoken, thus shall it be.

I guess it's a good thing there's a democratic majority in the house that can put a stop to this. Oh, wait. That's right. The glorious senator Obama (D-Milquetoast) has already surrendered on their behalf.

[Demit]

7. ARe you referring to the AP piece that distorted Obama's full remarks? That story was updated by the

author. Here's Markos, fleshing out what happened (it's just another example of how invidious the press really is):

What Obama really said
by kos
Thu Sep 13, 2007 at 01:36:09 PM PDT

I took a whack at Obama below for "predicting" that the Senate didn't have the votes to pass a supplemental with real teeth. I took a passage from Mike Glover's AP piece as supporting material...The Obama campaign has sent me the full remarks:

"I tell you what. I think that we want to get everybody on board to bring this war to a close...I want to be honest with you about where we are in Congress right now. We are gonna' have a series of debates about funding the next phase of this war. And there are gonna' be a couple of options.

One option is to just give the president a blank check, and to say 'whatever you say Mr. President here, you keep on doing what you're doing.' I don't think that is an acceptable option. Right now the question -- one way of ending the war would be to impose a timetable where we would have all our combat troops out. And I had a bill that provided that timetable of March 30 th. We passed it with a majority voting for that in the Senate and in the House but the problem was the president vetoed that bill and to overcome a veto in the senate you gotta' have 67 votes so were about 15 votes short. We were hoping to persuade enough Republican senators and Republican representatives to change their positions in order to override the President's veto. And ill be honest with you right now, it doesn't look like were going to get that many votes, but I think it's important for everybody here to put pressure on Republican congressmen and Senators who have not recognized that were on a failed course so that we can at least see more votes on that bill.

The other thing that were also gonna' try to do – I don't know if everybody's aware of this but those people who have been sent to Iraq have been on the kinds of rotations without rest and without proper training that the army itself says is unacceptable. We have people who are spending more time in Iraq than they are back home retraining and getting the rest that they need. And so what we're going to try to introduce is legislation that says you have to at least give people a one year break for every year served in Iraq. And if were able to get that passed, and get sixty votes for that, then at least that would put a ceiling on how many troops could be sent there at any given time. So those are some of the approaches that were gonna' try to take even before George Bush leaves office, but all that is going to require some pressure from all of you on our senators and your congressman, you know, who are really important."


The Obama campaign has a real case that the AP lede isn't quite accurate. Obama did predict that the Senate doesn't have the votes, but also urged people to contact their congresspersons to try and change things. So it wasn't so much "resignation", as it was "help us change this."

In any case, I think the ultimate strategy isn't a choice between caving and avoiding the president's veto. I think it's between sending enough tough bills to Bush that eventually 1) he either tires of vetoing and accepts a real compromise, or 2) his Republican allies in Congress abandon him.


Update: Glover must've gotten a serious talking to, since he's fleshed out his story even more, including this bit:

'Obama said Congress should at least try to reverse course on the war.

"We should not wait until George Bush is out of office to start bringing this war to a close," said Obama. "I believe that Congress should not and must not give George Bush a blank check. I believe Congress should impose a timetable and some constraints."

With only a thin majority in both chambers of Congress, Obama said the effort may fall short.

"I cannot guarantee we can get all the Republicans we need, but we have to try," said Obama.'


I should know this already, but I guess it takes the occasional reminder that we can never trust anything but a full transcript from anyone (not just traditional press, but anyone reporting a story).
http://www.dailykos.com/

[gratuitous]

6. Bought more time from whom? With what?

I didn't get any money, he didn't buy more time from me. A large majority of Americans want us out of Iraq as soon as practicable, so he didn't buy more time from them. So who did Bush buy more time from?

Oh, I see: USA Toady, lickspittles to neverending war as long as it keeps providing them with pretty pictures of stuff blowin' up reel gud.

[Bake]

8. Unfortunately, the "mark"

Unfortunately, the "mark" is a giant, gaping, festering, gangrenous wound.

Bake

[Whoa_Nelly]

9. Do bomb craters count as making a mark?

[truthisfreedom]

10. They got it right. It's all about his "mark" being made, not justice being done, not helping them,

but helping bush get his "mark" made.

[donkeyotay]

11. His mark is made, alright.

Anderson Cooper had a piece about burying the dead in Iraq. The American people need to see more images of just exactly what George's mark looks like. It looks like a human tragedy of historic proportions. Probably a million Iraqi dead, 4 million refugees, and a level of suffering for the people left that is unimaginable. Let me add to the "it's never too late" theme. It's never too late for America to see and respond to the suffering done in our name. It's never too late for George W. Bush to be held accountable for what he has done to Iraq. It's never too late for George W. Bush to be held accountable for what he has done to the U.S..