Bush defends halt in troop withdrawals

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON - President Bush, defending his decision to halt withdrawals of U.S. troops after July, said Saturday that Iraqis are shouldering more responsibility for securing their future.

The United States will stay on the offense, support the Iraqi security forces and move toward an oversight role, Bush said in his latest effort to garner support for the unpopular war. He used his Saturday radio address to promote his war policy, even though his approval rating hit a new low of 28 percent in an AP-Ipsos survey this week.

The president on Thursday said he would heed the advice of his top commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus. After the current drawdown of U.S. troops ends in July, Petraeus wants 45 days to evaluate security — followed by an indefinite period to reassess U.S. troop strength in Iraq, where flare-ups of extremist violence are threatening to undercut security gains.

"I've told him he'll have time he needs to make his assessment," Bush said.

That stance guarantees a heavy American military presence in Iraq for the rest of Bush's presidency as the war grinds through its sixth year. The current total of 160,000 troops is scheduled to shrink to about 140,000 by the end of July. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that he no longer thinks, as he did last fall, that it was possible for troop levels to drop to 100,000 by year's end.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080412/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush

---

BAGHDAD - A U.S. soldier was killed by an improvised explosive device in northwest Baghdad on Saturday morning, the U.S. military said.


http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL1241499620080412

[SpiralHawk]

1. "War, war, war. Terra, terra, terra." - Commander AWOL

More mush from the AWOL whimp.