Bush: 'Success' May Bring Drawdown

Of course the press won't ask him how many troops. All that matters is the headline. This is more Bush propaganda intended to buy himself more time. The troops that would go home are the ones already scheduled to go home, that simple. Bush made it very clear early on that he had no intention of leaving Iraq. But Bush's lies seem to be working. The Democrats will cave-in again and the press will give him photo-ops. Even the polls seem to be turning Dubya's way:

President Bush, briefed by U.S. military commanders and Iraqi leaders, said Monday some American forces could be sent home if security across Iraq improves as it has in Anbar province, a former hotbed of Sunni insurgency.

But the president, flanked by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, did not say how many troops could be withdrawn or how soon.

In other words, the troops (minus the British) will have to stay and fight and die so that Bush can say he was tough guy:

Despite intense pressure at home for cutbacks, Bush said decisions about troop levels "will be based on a calm assessment by our military commanders on the conditions on the ground — not a nervous reaction by Washington politicians to poll results in the media.

"In other words," the president told cheering troops, "when we begin to draw down troops from Iraq it will be from a position of strength and success — not from a position of fear and failure."

This is what Bush considers draw down. I call it fantasy:

"Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker tell me if the kind of success we're now seeing continues, it will be possible to maintain the same level of security with fewer American forces," Bush said.