We all knew what was coming with the troop surge. Bush would get to the point that he couldn’t sustain the surge any longer, pull out the 30,000 troops involved in the surge, and declare that things in Iraq were getting better so they wouldn’t be needed anymore.
I just didn’t think they’d be claiming it TODAY:
President George W. Bush will tell the nation this week he plans to reduce the American troop presence in Iraq by about 30,000 by next summer, but will condition those and further cuts on continued progress, The Associated Press has learned.
Of course we all saw this coming. Like Kos said, we have a habit of being right.
The Boston Globe had enough decency to report the truth, that the troops have to come home regardless of whether or not the surge worked (it didn’t) because the military is too strained to keep it going:
The Pentagon cannot sustain its current force levels in Iraq beyond next summer, effectively giving the Bush administration and the Iraqi government until the middle of 2008 to capitalize on recent security improvements before the US military must draw down its forces, according to US military officials and foreign policy analysts.
When the 15-month combat tours end for the nearly 30,000 additional US troops President Bush sent to Iraq earlier this year to secure the country, the Army will be unable to replace them without damaging morale or troop readiness, senior Army officials say. Those forces will complete their tours during the spring and summer of 2008, according to Army deployment schedules.
A report says Iraq missed all but three benchmarks.
So to recap:
The surge failed.
Bush said it was a success and we can bring the troops home.
But Bush is forced to bring the troops home anyway, so he spins it as a victory.
All this from the worst President ever.