Bush on Iraq: U.S. Troops "Return on Success"

Publication Date: September 2007

Publisher: Heritage Foundation (Washington, D.C.)

Author(s): James Phillips

Research Area: Military and defense

Keywords: Middle East; drawdown; bush; Iraq

Type: Brief

Coverage: Iraq

Abstract:

President Bush delivered a short but effective speech last night that reviewed the military progress made in Iraq, explained why this progress now allows the beginning of a drawdown of U.S. troops, and reminded Americans of what is at stake in Iraq. He announced that 5,700 of the 21,500 combat troops participating in the "surge" would be home for Christmas, several months before they were scheduled to return. U.S. troops, he stressed, would "return on success" according to the situation in Iraq, not on timetables arbitrarily determined by Washington politicians.