Bush lowers the bar...new "cut and run" stategery

[hexola]

In last nights speech - Bush seemed lower the definition of success in Iraq. He claimed that the troops would come home once there were sufficient Iraqi troops to "continue the fight."

"We are building up Iraqi security forces as quickly as possible so they can assume the lead in defeating the terrorists and insurgents...a major part of our mission is to train them so they can do the fighting, and then our troops can come home."

Sounds like "cut and run" to me...

He did not define success as "victory" or "peace"

Our strategy can be summed up this way: As the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down.

TRANSLATION: We need more Iraqi troops so we can CUT US troops and RUN home!

Also - he is suggesting that: just the Iraq part will be over - The war or terror will go on! He sounded almost proud that the war on terror will go on. I thought the war in Iraq -was- the war on terror?

This passage sounds more like a dictator building a police state...

Under U.S. command, they are providing battlefield advice and assistance to Iraqi forces during combat operations. Between battles, they are assisting the Iraqis with important skills such as urban combat and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance techniques.

Third, we are working with the Iraqi ministries of interior and defense to improve their capabilities to coordinate anti-terrorist operations.

We're helping them develop command and control structures.

We're also providing them with civilian and military leadership training, so Iraq's new leaders can effectively manage their forces in the fight against terror.

The new Iraqi security forces are proving their courage every day. More than 2,000 members of Iraqi security forces have given their lives in the line of duty. Thousands more have stepped forward and are now training to serve their nation.

With each engagement, Iraqi soldiers grow more battle-hardened and their officers grow more experienced.

We've learned that Iraqis are courageous and that they need additional skills. And that is why a major part of our mission is to train them so they can do the fighting, and then our troops can come home.

And in the irony department; just who is he talking about here?

...fighting against men with blind hatred and armed with lethal weapons who are capable of any atrocity. They wear no uniform; they respect no laws of warfare or morality. They take innocent lives to create chaos for the cameras.

[iconoclastic cat]

1. Could he be preparing the Iraqi troops to help fight Syria or Iran?

Perhaps this is a paranoid stretch on my part, but if Bush manages to raise 7-10 Iraqi divisions, he could bring home the troops who have been kept past the end of their tour, leaving only enough to run the 15 or whetever number of bases they've built. Then, with fresh US troops and the Iraqi divisions, they could go after Iran or Syria.

[FormerOstrich]

2. So does that mean the Iraqis

will fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here? Is that sub-contracting our take the fight to them? I'm so confused. If we are fighting them there but they stay there then who is it we didn't want here? It hurts my head.....it is hard work thinking in circles.