2008 Woodie Awards
Bush prepares to make last major decisions in Iraq war strategy
By: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Issue date: 4/8/08 Section: Nation
WASHINGTON - Nearing what are likely to be his last big decisions on U.S. troops and strategy in Iraq, President Bush seems to have fewer choices than when his war council last came to town.
Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker are expected to offer something for everyone when they testify to Congress beginning today, including the three senators competing to replace Bush in the White House. But any bright spot in their assessment of Iraq will be viewed through the prism of recent headlines.
Fresh violence has taken the gleam off Bush's military strategy, and political score-settling among Iraqi leaders shows they still can't or won't meet U.S. expectations.
"We've thrown out all of the rose-colored glasses in how we look at Iraq," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said yesterday.
The Democrats aren't so sure of that, and the mounting American death toll will almost surely lead them to new demands this week for Bush to bring troops home more quickly. While Bush is just as sure to reject that idea, the mixed picture Petraeus and Crocker paint will leave the president without a sure path ahead.
"If there is any clear message that emerges out of the events of the last few weeks, it is that the risks in Iraq remain high enough so that no one can yet say whether the odds of any kind of U.S. success are better than even," Anthony Cordesman, a security analyst for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote yesterday. "The fact remains, however, that there is still a marginally better case for staying than for leaving."
Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker are expected to offer something for everyone when they testify to Congress beginning today, including the three senators competing to replace Bush in the White House. But any bright spot in their assessment of Iraq will be viewed through the prism of recent headlines.
Fresh violence has taken the gleam off Bush's military strategy, and political score-settling among Iraqi leaders shows they still can't or won't meet U.S. expectations.
"We've thrown out all of the rose-colored glasses in how we look at Iraq," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said yesterday.
The Democrats aren't so sure of that, and the mounting American death toll will almost surely lead them to new demands this week for Bush to bring troops home more quickly. While Bush is just as sure to reject that idea, the mixed picture Petraeus and Crocker paint will leave the president without a sure path ahead.
"If there is any clear message that emerges out of the events of the last few weeks, it is that the risks in Iraq remain high enough so that no one can yet say whether the odds of any kind of U.S. success are better than even," Anthony Cordesman, a security analyst for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote yesterday. "The fact remains, however, that there is still a marginally better case for staying than for leaving."
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