PEACE & SECURITY | Creating a more stable world
10 April 2008
Surge Puts Iraq Back on Track, Says Bush
U.S. to reduce troop numbers in Iraq by 25 percent, move to support role
Washington -- Improving security conditions in Iraq reflect a “major strategic shift,” says President Bush, which is setting the stage for Iraqis to continue making political and economic progress and the United States to transition toward a supporting role.
“Our job in the period ahead is to stand with the Iraqi government as it makes tough choices and makes the transition to responsibility for its own security and its own destiny,” Bush says. “It is clear that we're on the right track.”
Bush’s announcement April 10 followed two days of testimony to Senate and House committees by U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and coalition forces commander General David Petraeus, who reported “fragile but reversible” progress in Iraq since the launching of the 2007 surge strategy -- the addition of 30,000 U.S. troops to help Iraqis take back their country from extremists and set the stage for political reform, reconstruction and economic development. (See “Recent Developments Signal Progress in Iraq, Envoy Crocker Says.”)
Bush announced that he would act on the recommendations put forward by Crocker and Petraeus, including the withdrawal of five U.S. brigades by July 31 -- a 25 percent troop reduction. The withdrawal will be followed by a 45-day period of consolidation and evaluation before further recommendations are made.
Iraqi army police units are increasingly taking the lead, Bush said, and the United States will continue to provide training, equipment and support to safeguard their country, transferring security responsibilities as provinces become ready.
Politically, Bush said, Iraq is seeing “bottom-up progress” as provincial officials and tribal leaders are coming together to build local governments, and national leaders pass three major reform packages and a budget, and are planning new rounds of provincial and national elections. “As Iraqi leaders increasingly act together, they share power and they forge compromises on behalf of the nation,” said Bush.
Iraq is moving forward economically as well, marking another change for America’s role in Iraq, Bush said. Improved security has allowed new businesses to open, and reforms have resulted as the national government begins to share energy revenues with the provinces. “In the period ahead, Iraq's economy will increasingly move away from American assistance, rely on private investment and stand on its own,” Bush said.
Bush urged Iraq’s neighbors to join the United States in encouraging further progress, announcing that Crocker and Petraeus would brief officials in Saudi Arabia, and U.S. diplomats would meet with leaders in Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Egypt to encourage them to reopen embassies in Baghdad.
“A stable, successful, independent Iraq is in the strategic interests of Arab nations, and all who want peace in the Middle East should support a stable, democratic Iraq. And we will urge all nations to increase their support this year,” Bush said.
Serious and complex challenges remain, Bush said, among them the continued role of militants backed by neighboring Iran.
“The regime in Tehran also has a choice to make,” Bush said. “To live in peace with its neighbor, enjoy strong economic and cultural and religious ties, or it could continue to arm and train and fund illegal militant groups, which are terrorizing the Iraqi people and turning them against Iran. If Iran makes the right choice, America will encourage a peaceful relationship between Iran and Iraq. [If] Iran makes the wrong choice, America will act to protect our interests and our troops and our Iraqi partners.”
A transcript of Bush’s remarks, and a related fact sheet, are available from America.gov.
