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Bush Orders Small Iraq Troop Cutbacks

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By PETER BAKER and KAREN DeYOUNG, The Washington Post

Published: September 14, 2007

WASHINGTON - President Bush tried to turn a corner in the fractious debate over Iraq on Thursday night by ordering the first limited troop withdrawals since voters elected an antiwar Congress last year. The move did little to appease Democratic leaders who dismissed it as a token gesture masking an open-ended commitment of U.S. troops.

Bush said progress on the ground means he can pull out by next summer the additional combat forces he sent in January, or roughly 21,500 troops, and he opened the door to further troop reductions if conditions improve.

Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said Thursday that U.S. projections anticipate Iraq reaching nationwide 'sustainable security' by June 2009.

Administration officials have said that they hope to bring down forces substantially by the time Iraq reaches such a state, transitioning to a more limited mission aimed at supporting Iraqi forces and hunting down al-Qaida cells.

Officials said Thursday's decision by the president signals the beginning of what one called a 'gradual change in mission' away from population security - the priority Bush adopted in January - toward turning the lead role over to Iraqis.

The president's upbeat assessment of the situation in Iraq during a nationally televised address was shadowed by the killing earlier in the day of a Sunni sheik who led the turnaround of a key province in alliance with U.S. forces.

Bush's staff finished work on a report it will send to Congress today concluding that Iraq is making satisfactory progress on nine of 18 political, economic and security benchmarks, just one more than in July, administration officials said.

The president said such progress is enough to justify the beginning of a modest pullout, starting with 5,700 troops by Christmas.

He coined a new slogan to describe his latest strategy, 'Return on Success,' meaning that further progress will enable further withdrawals. 'The more successful we are, the more American troops can return home,' Bush said.

Bush warned that substantial numbers of U.S. troops will be in Iraq for years to come. Iraqi leaders 'understand that their success will require U.S. political, economic and security engagement that extends beyond my presidency,' he said, although he said such a scenario 'requires many fewer American troops.'

'The American people long ago lost faith in the president's leadership of the war in Iraq because his rhetoric has never matched the reality on the ground,' said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. 'The choice is between a Democratic plan for responsible redeployment and the president's plan for an endless war in Iraq.'

In the official televised Democratic response, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said Bush's plan 'does not amount to real change' and he vowed that Congress will 'profoundly change' U.S. war policy. 'Once again, the president failed to provide either a plan to successfully end the war or a convincing rationale to continue it,' Reed said.

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