Bush set to outline fresh strategy for Iraq

US Features

By Mike McCarthy Jan 6, 2007, 11:06 GMT

Washington - US President George W Bush will unveil his revised strategy for Iraq next week, possibly ordering more troops to the embattled country after announcing Friday that he will change the US military leadership in the region. Bush's new approach is intended to bolster sagging public support for a conflict that has claimed more than 3,000 American lives, to accomplish the mission in Iraq and, eventually, to allow a withdrawal of the US military. Bush has not publicly discussed what options he has considered during a review of his strategy, which began after Democrats defeated his Republican Party in November 7 elections - largely because of domestic opposition to the war. But there are indications the announcement could come as early as Wednesday. 'I will want to make sure that the mission is clear and specific and can be accomplished,' Bush said at a press conference Thursday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Among the options Bush is reportedly considering is a temporary surge in the US military presence of 140,000 soldiers by as much as 40,000. For months Bush has insisted there were sufficient ground forces in Iraq based on the advice of top military officers. The newly empowered Democrats have been pushing Bush to begin withdrawing American forces and sent a letter to Bush strongly opposing any decision to increase the force. Some Republicans senators have also been more vocal in criticizing Bush's policies. Bush met at the White House Friday with Republican and Democratic senators one day after the Democrats assumed control of Congress. Barack Obama, a Democratic senator weighing a run for the presidency in 2008, said Republicans also had reservations about a troop increase. 'Both Republican and Democratic senators expressed grave concern about the situation in Iraq,' Obama said. He said Bush did not indicate whether he has decided to deploy more troops. In the letter, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Bush's policy in Iraq has been a failure and that adding more forces will allow the Iraqi government to avoid taking responsibility for the security of the country. 'Surging forces is a strategy that you have already tried and that has already failed,' the letter said. 'Like many current and former military leaders, we believe that trying again would be a serious mistake.' 'Adding more combat troops will only endanger more Americans and stretch our military to the breaking point for no strategic gain,' the top two Democrats said. Bush's challenges in Iraq include defeating the long-running insurgency and ending sectarian violence, which erupted last year and has brought the country to the brink of civil war. Experts have said Bush also needs to find a way to convince Syria and Iran to stop supporting the violence and play a positive role in Iraq. There have also been concerns within the Bush administration that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is incapable of taking the essential political and military steps to stabilize the country, including disarming Shiite Muslim militias responsible for reprisals against Sunnis. 'You also have to find ways, after you deal with the violence itself, putting together the ability for Iraqis to gather around a unified government,' White House spokesman Tony Snow said Friday. Bush spoke with al-Maliki for nearly two hours during a video conference call on Thursday and said later that he was confident al- Maliki was committed to stabilizing Iraq. Bush announced Friday that General George Casey, the head of multinational forces in Iraq, will be replaced by Lieutenant General David Petraeus. General John Abizaid, the chief of US Central Command, which oversees US military operations in the Middle East, will be replaced by Admiral William Fallon, who has been in charge of the US Pacific Command. Snow said because many of the officers were slated to leave their posts in the near future, Bush wanted to move quickly to ensure that a fresh command structure was already in place when he announces his new strategy next week. 'It makes sense to go ahead and make sure that you're going to have your command team that is going to be in place as you're working on this new way forward and enacting it,' Snow said, adding the decision was not based on the generals' performance. Abizaid is due to retire. Bush named Casey to become the Army's chief of staff, the top position in the service. Petraeus has been regarded as a successful ground commander in Iraq and has been praised for taking on the difficult task of training Iraq's security forces. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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AldousJan 6th, 2007 - 11:56:56

it will never work the problem is not a military one it is a conscious one. more precisely it is the system the capitalistic system that is at cause. this is a war of modernity against tradition. however modernity offer a Cristal walls and imprisons its citizens in a way that they do not perceive the barriers that restrain their freedom. the dehumanization of the human race is what Washington is proposing to the world. the forces of sanity which G W Bush calls terrorist are the gathering spirit that disagreed with this dehumanization of our human race. most folks are neurotic this days on the western hemisphere and this decease is the result of the dehumanization and standardization of the human. humans are gregarious and they are individuals. Washington hopes to create a system were we all get objects to release our frustration this is call progress consumption becomes the fact that you purchase a cellular phone ones a year, and trow the old one to the bin. creating masses of waste destroying the planet and transforming yourself on a consumption machine. the result is dehumanization and a planet that is on the brink of boiling, due to extreme climates upheavals. earthquakes and freak hurricanes will probably level the issue and a global civil war is on the works. therefore unless there is a realistic change on most of the planets consciousness a real change, a large quantity of humans will perish, by war, by deceases or by their own internal neurotic derangements.

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Aldous has someting on his mind...Jan 7th, 2007 - 01:53:19

A tinfoil hat! Seriously, boy, your bread ain't quite done!

That Rambling diatribe has Lithium written all over it. You need to get out of Mom's basement and travel a bit. Buy some clothes, meet some chicks.

The fact is, this is not a culture war. It is a terror war. Cell phones and consumption aside, it's time to wake up. We've been at war, secretly, with Iran for 30 years, and we need to take off the gloves.

SP4

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hey AldousJan 7th, 2007 - 20:34:19

what is this calling everyone a tin hat ?
i think you are a p---k and id like to meet you somewhere and straighting your stupid ass out....

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