President Bush appeals to the nation
in a prime time address on Iraq Thursday --
his latest effort to buy time
for his Iraq War strategy
and shore up support among Republicans
who have become increasingly frustrated
with the lack of political progress
and stability in Iraq.
"The premise of our strategy is
that securing the Iraqi population is the foundation
for all other progress,"
Bush will tell the nation,
according to excerpts of his speech
released to the press.
"The goal of the surge is to provide
that security, and to help prepare Iraqi forces
to maintain it. ...
Our success in meeting these objectives now allows us
to begin bringing some of our troops home."
With a majority of Americans telling pollsters
they would like to see American troops leave Iraq,
the president will announce
he is ordering some troops home.
Bush will say 2,200 Marines are coming home immediately
and will not be replaced,
and an Army brigade of 3,500 will be out of Iraq by Christmas.
These units were already scheduled to come home,
but they will not be replaced.
Speech Called 'Return on Success'
Calling the speech a "return on success,"
the president will suggest
that the United States has made enough strategic progress in Iraq
to continue on the current course.
Bush's plan is to withdraw five brigades by mid-July --
approximately 23,000 troops,
leaving about 137,000 U.S. troops in place
by next summer.
"The principle guiding my decisions on troop levels in Iraq
is "return on success,"
Bush will say, according to excerpts.
"The more successful we are,
the more American troops can return home. ...
Our success in meeting these objectives now allows us
to begin bringing some of our troops home."
While Bush attempts to portray the redeployment
as a troop withdrawal,
there will actually be 7,000 more troops in Iraq next summer
than there were
before Bush deployed additional forces to Iraq in January
as part of a troop surge plan to quell sectarian violence.
In his more than 17-minute address,
Bush is also expected to suggest
any troop redeployment will be heavily conditioned
on stability in Iraq --
far from the rapid withdrawal of troops wanted
by Democratic leaders in Congress.
Bush will also attempt to convince the public
he is applying pressure on Iraqi national leaders
to work together to achieve political reconciliation.
"The government has not met its own legislative benchmarks,
and in my meetings with Iraqi leaders,
I have made it clear that they must,"
Bush is expected to say.
The president will try to quiet his critics,
saying that the plan:
"makes it possible,
for the first time in years,
for people who have been
on opposite sides of this difficult debate to come together."
The president will also explain his Iraq strategy
as part of a larger policy in the Middle East.
He will also frame the Iraq conflict
as he has in the past,
as a key component of a broader war
against al Qaeda and Islamic extremists.
"In Iraq, an ally of the United States is fighting for its survival.
Terrorists and extremists who are at war with us around the world
are seeking to topple Iraq's government,
dominate the region
and attack us here at home,"
Bush will say.
During a lunch with network anchors
attended by ABC News' Charles Gibson
and George Stephanopoulos Thursday afternoon,
Bush explained that the Iraqi government has said
they want U.S. troops in Iraq on a long-term basis.
Bush made clear that the U.S. will have an enduring presence in Iraq,
that will go beyond his presidency,
but he does not necessarily envision permanent U.S. bases
in that country.
The president's address comes
after a week of testimony on Capitol Hill by Army Gen. David Petraeus,
the top U.S. military official in Iraq
and Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker,
the top diplomat --
telling lawmakers
that the troop surge strategy in the United States
has had uneven success.
Bush Eighth Appeal to Nation on Iraq
It's Bush's eighth prime time address on Iraq
since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
The president will also have
to convince an American public increasingly skeptical about the war
that the four-year-old conflict is making the country safer --
something the top U.S. military general in Iraq
had trouble doing on Capitol Hill this week
when he said he didn't know
whether the Iraq War strategy would make America any safer.
The president must also shore up support
among Republican senators
who have voiced frustration
with the lack of progress in Iraq.
Democrats in Congress lack the 60 votes necessary
in the Senate to force the president
to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq.
The Senate majority leader is attempting
to woo those Republicans to force the president
to fundamentally change course.
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