Bush's speech on Iraq

Via BBC:

US President George W Bush is expected to back a limited withdrawal of troops in an address on his Iraq war strategy.

The gradual pull-out would take troop numbers back to their level before Mr Bush ordered a build-up this year. The Democrats say more must be withdrawn.

Mr Bush's televised speech is expected to follow the advice of US commander in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, who gave a progress report to Congress this week.

In his primetime televised address Mr Bush was expected to announce that he plans to reduce US troops by roughly 30,000 by next summer, if certain conditions are met.

At a White House briefing ahead of the speech, senior officials said the aim is to reduce the US force from 20 combat brigades to 15 by the middle of next year.

Senior Democrats have said the proposed reductions in US troop numbers are "insufficient" and do not represent a change in course.

Top Democrats say they will try to pass new legislation on Iraq

Senator Jack Reed is expected to give the party's response shortly after Mr Bush's address.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi has accused the president of effectively signing-off on an "open-ended" commitment that could keep US troops in Iraq for 10 years.

Read more.

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Bush Gets It Wrong

You know people who talk as experts (not that Bush is an expert on anything) and use history to show what might happen in Iraq if we pull out, should, at least get their facts straight.

Via Crooks and Liars:

Bush to connect Iraq, Vietnam

By: Steve Benen on Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007 at 5:12 AM - PDT

With the president’s upcoming report to Congress on “progress” in Iraq just a few weeks away, the White House is, once again, preparing a new public-relations offensive to bolster support for Bush’s war policy. It starts today with a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ annual convention, followed by another address next week to the American Legion, which will reportedly offer a “broader context” to discouraging news out of Iraq.

Apparently, this context includes an odd comparison between the wars in Iraq and Vietnam.

As he awaits a crucial progress report on Iraq, President Bush will try to put a twist on comparisons of the war to Vietnam by invoking the historical lessons of that conflict to argue against pulling out.

On Wednesday in Kansas City, Missouri, Bush will tell members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars that “then, as now, people argued that the real problem was America’s presence and that if we would just withdraw, the killing would end,” according to speech excerpts released Tuesday by the White House.

But this is an obvious misread of history. Supporters of the war in Vietnam said a withdrawal would lead to Communists dominating Southeast Asia., just as supporters of the war in Iraq argue that a withdrawal now would lead to some kind of al Qaeda caliphate.

That, of course, is probably one of the least persuasive arguments the White House could offer. Predictions predicated on an Asian “domino theory” turned out to be wrong. As Josh Marshall explains why.

Also Bush will mention the "killing fields" stating what happened in Vietnam would happen in Iraq if we pulled out. The "killing fields" refers to what happened in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge not Vietnam.

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