Bush to halt Iraq troop withdrawal

President Bush this morning announced he will halt troop reductions in Iraq this summer and said he will give his military commander in Iraq all the time he needs to decide on future troop levels, but said also that the U.S. is not stuck in an endless war.”

The president, in a 17-minute speech from the White House, made the expected announcement that he will pause troop withdrawals from Iraq at the end of July, and that he will also shorten troop deployments from 15 months to 12 months, starting in August.

Mr. Bush said he was following the advice of his top military commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, who has recommended a 45-day period of consolidation and evaluation starting in August.

But the president said that he was acting from a position of strength gained by the surge of 30,000 troops over the last year.

“With the surge a major strategic shift has occurred,” Mr. Bush said, speaking to an audience of about 100 people that included Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and the president’s war czar, Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute.

Fifteen months ago, America and the Iraqi government were on the defensive. Today, we have the initiative, he said. Thanks to the surge, we’ve renewed and revived the prospect of success.

Democrats panned the presidents way forward as the continuation of a war that, now in its sixth year, has no end in sight, with no prospect for a U.S. exit.

The President confirmed what Ive been saying for some time: he has no plan to end this war, said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, Delaware Democrat.

His plan is to muddle through and then to hand the problem off to his successor, Mr. Biden said. So the result of the surge is that were right back where we started before it began 15 months ago: with 140,000 troops in Iraq, spending $3 billion every week, losing 30 to 40 American lives every month, and still no end in sight.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, said Mr. Bush had signaled to the American people that he has no intention of bringing home any more troops.

He is leaving all the tough decisions to the next president of the United States, Mr. Reid said.

Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have avoided calling for an immediate withdrawal but have said that if elected they would begin a gradual withdrawal with a clear end date.

But Mr. Bush insisted that the security gains achieved by the surge of 30,000 U.S. troops to Iraq over the past year must be maintained, and said he will not bow to pressure for a pullout or timeline for withdrawal.

The pause in withdrawals will take place in July once U.S. forces return to just above the pre-surge level of about 140,000 troops, or 15 brigades.

Mr. Bush, however, took issue with the word pause, saying that none of our operations in Iraq will be on hold.

Mr. Bush has indicated for months now that he would follow Gen. Petraeus advice to stop pulling troops out this summer. The general wants to see if violence, which has been decreased by the surge, will spike once the U.S. reduces its footprint.

If violence does go back up, there is the potential that Mr. Bush could order more U.S. troops back into Iraq.

But the president said that while this war is difficult, it is not endless, and indicated the U.S. military will continue pulling out troops as long as conditions on the ground continue to improve.

The Pentagon, however, has expressed concern about the militarys readiness for other conflicts, due to the strain of multiple deployments to Iraq and the concentration of money and resources that have flowed to the conflict.

He also said that while the shortened troop deployments are intended to lessen the stress on U.S. forces and their families, the surest way to depress morale and weaken the force would be to lose in Iraq.

The stress on our force is real, but the Joint Chiefs have assured me that … our all-volunteer force is strong and resilient enough to fight and win this war on terror, the president said.

Mr. Bush believes the fight in Iraq to be critical to U.S. national security. He says a withdrawal that leaves Iraq in chaos would turn the country into a safe haven for terrorists, as well as embolden and strengthen Iran.

Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, agrees with this point of view.

Mr. Bush called Iraq the convergence point for two of the greatest threats to America in this new century: al Qaeda and Iran.

The president began his day by hosting Gen. Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker for breakfast at the White House.

The general and ambassador briefed Mr. Bush about their previous two days of testimony before the Senate and House, where they told lawmakers that al Qaeda in Iraq has been weakened but that Iran-backed militias and insurgents are playing a destabilizing role.

After his speech, Mr. Bush left the White House for his ranch in Crawford, Texas, where hell spend a four-day weekend.

Gen. Petraeus and Mr. Crocker, meanwhile, were dispatched by the president to Saudi Arabia on their way back to Iraq, where they will meet with Saudi leaders about supporting the Iraqi government.