Bush says Iraq buildup may be reviewed by September

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Tuesday that U.S. commanders likely will be able to gauge by September whether or not the troop buildup in Iraq is succeeding.

Bush spoke in an interview on the Public Broadcasting System's "Charlie Rose Show" a day after a suicide truck bomb killed nine U.S. troops in one of the worst attacks on American ground forces since the invasion in 2003.

He said Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, felt it was too early to fully assess the impact of committing additional troops, mostly in Baghdad, because only about half of the new forces had been deployed.

Asked when such a review would be carried out, Bush said: "I think (Petraeus) would tell you that in September he might have a pretty good feel for whether or not it made sense or not."

The administration has avoided saying how long it will keep the expanded force of about 160,000 troops, including about 30,000 ordered in by Bush in January. But officials have said the situation will be reviewed in late summer.



Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2007/04/25/bush_says_iraq_buildup_may_be_reviewed_by_september/

Wonders just ceased.

pretty good feel for whether or not it made sense or not :puke:

Baghdad Security Operation Hasn't Cut Violence - UN Report
BAGHDAD (AP)--Sectarian violence continued to claim the lives of a large number of Iraqi civilians in Sunni Arab and Shiite neighborhoods of Iraq's capital, despite the coalition's new Baghdad security plan, the U.N. said Wednesday.

In its first human rights report since the security plan was launched on Feb. 14 - and began increasing U.S. and Iraqi troops levels in the capital -the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq, or UNAMI, said civilian casualties in the daily violence between January and March remained high, concentrated in and around Baghdad.

U.S. troops are facing increasing danger as they step up their presence in outposts and police stations in Baghdad and areas surrounding the city, as part of the security crackdown to which U.S. President George W. Bush has committed an extra 30,000 troops.

Thousands of Iraqi soldiers also are being deployed in the streets of the capital in an attempt to pacify it.

"While government officials claimed an initial drop in the number of killings in the latter half of February following the launch of the Baghdad security plan, the number of reported casualties rose again in March," the study said.

more:http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20070425%5cACQDJON200704250421DOWJONESDJONLINE000397.htm&

Nine US troops killed in 'deadliest month'
By Natalie Paris and agencies
Last Updated: 4:15am BST 25/04/2007

An Iraqi suicide bomber killed nine soldiers and left 20 wounded on Monday, making April the bloodiest month for US troops since 2005.

A US military statement said an Iraqi citizen was also injured when a car bomb exploded in Baquba, capital of the volatile Diyala province.

A vehicle armed with explosives rocked a patrol base at the military outpost bringing the US death toll in April to 70 soldiers.

Baquba is a region with a mixed population of Sunni Arabs and Shi'ites and where US forces are engaged in fierce fighting with entrenched insurgents and al Qaeda militants.

more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/24/wtroops124.xml

The American people are not waiting until September, but are reviewing it right now. I still have hope that our Democratic Congress will act to bring this madness to a halt.

More running out the clock by the Stallmasters of the Bush administration.

he* can pass his* failure on to the next sucker.

For his Simian Legacy

what kind of bizzarro, looking glass, 1984 world are we living in?

in the selling of this 'surge' that i'd be able to see whether it was working or not in 2-3 months.

I REJECT this attempt to re-write history and to extend the time frame for the evaluation of this obvious disaster.

I am reviewing it NOW, as I was told I could... And it isn't working.

We are throwing our tax dollars out of the window by keeping our troops in the middle of a civil war. That's beside the most important point - no one deserves to kill and die for a war based on LIES and only perpetuated in order to keep the Military Industrial Complex fat and sassy. :thumbsdown:

ENOUGH! Reid better keep his spine because I'm sick of our Democratic representatives TRASHING our children's future by pissing away our tax dollars on THE WAR MACHINE. :grr:

Anyone who remembers the Vietnam Era also knows all the fear-mongering in an attempt to get us to stay. Well, Vietnam is still Communist and the "evil reds" did not follow us over here.

Our problem "over here" is primarily due to the Military Industrial BEASTIE who demands to be fed. Therefore, more FEAR and THREATS. In the 40-60s it was "the commies" and today it's the generic *terrorists* (under every bed). :puke:

Stop both the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. Then we can dedicate more of our tax dollars for "the public good" such as building better schools and developing alternative energy sources.