Bush orders limited troop reduction
Cut will only bring the number of soldiers to what it was before recent “surge” in Iraq.
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American troops must stay in the battle, Bush said, and more than 130,000 will remain after the newly ordered withdrawals are completed in July.
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Still, Bush firmly rejected calls to end the war, saying the fighters who threaten Iraq’s future are also a danger to US national security.
Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett in Washington reported that reaction to Bush’s speech had not been very positive,.
Ordinary Americans, military families as well as Democrats said that the president’s speech did not convey any dramatic changes in the mission in Iraq.
“Had the US foreign policy makers read history, they would not get involved in any war after Vietnam” Advertisement
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“They say this all just smoke, mirrors and window dressing that the president is really just trying to run out the clock and hand this into the lap of his successor,” Halkett said.
Republicans have also privately criticised Bush’s speech, saying the lack of a change of strategy only makes it more difficult for them to deliver to their constituency as they start campaigning in their districts.
All this is expected to dominate the race for presidency in coming months.
Meanwhile in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, Wamid Omar Nazmi, a political scientist, told Al Jazeera that Iraqis were also sceptical.
“The Iraqis are wondering if president Bush is just buying time,” Nazmi said.
He said that most of the population is against the presence of foreign troops on their land, “more especially when they have worsened the situation than before.”