WASHINGTON, April 10 (KUNA) -- Sending a message to Iran, President George W. Bush on Thursday said U.S. troops in Iraq will have all the time they need.
In a nationally televised speech from the White House, Bush made clear the U.S. military commitment to Iraq will remain at a high level by the time his presidency ends in January.
General David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, has reported that security conditions in Iraq have improved enough to withdraw all five of the additional "surge brigades," sent to Iraq in 2007, by the end of July, Bush said.
"That means that by July 31st, the number of U.S. combat brigades in Iraq will be down by 25 percent from last year," the President said in a White House speech. "Beyond that, General Petraeus says he will need time to consolidate his forces and assess how this reduced American presence will affect conditions.
on the ground before making measured recommendations on further reductions. And I have told him he will have all the time he needs."
-- The regime in Tehran 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, he said; but if Iran makes the wrong choice, America will act to protect its interests, troops and Iraqi partners.
Bush said he was directing senior U.S. diplomats to meet with the leaders in Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Egypt.
"In each capital, they will brief them on the situation in Iraq, and encourage these nations to reopen their embassies in Baghdad, and increase their overall support for Iraq," Bush said.
This will be followed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's trip to the third Expanded Neighbors Conference in Kuwait City later this month and the second International Compact With Iraq meeting in Stockholm, he said. "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," the President said. "And we will urge all nations to increase their support this year."
-- Iraq is the convergence point for two of the greatest threats to America in this new century -- al Qaeda and Iran, Bush said.
"If we fail there, al Qaeda would claim a propaganda victory of colossal proportions, and they could gain safe havens in Iraq from which to attack the United States, our friends and our allies," he said. "Iran would work to fill the vacuum in Iraq, and our failure would embolden its radical leaders and fuel their ambitions to dominate the region." The Taliban in Afghanistan and al Qaeda in Pakistan would grow in confidence and boldness, and violent extremists around the world would draw the same dangerous lesson they did from U.S. retreats in Somalia and Vietnam, Bush said.
"This would diminish our nation's standing in the world and lead to massive humanitarian casualties and increase the threat of another terrorist attack on our homeland," he said. On the other hand, if the United States succeeds in Iraq after all that al Qaeda and Iran have invested there, it would be a historic blow to the global terrorist movement and a severe setback for Iran, he said.
"It would demonstrate to a watching world that mainstream Arabs reject the ideology of al Qaeda and mainstream Shia reject the ideology of Iran's radical regime," Bush said. "It would give America a new partner with a growing economy and a democratic political system in which Sunnis and Shia and Kurds all work together for the good of their country." While the war in Iraq is difficult, it is not endless, Bush said, "and we expect that as conditions on the ground continue to improve, they will permit us to continue the policy of return on success." One day Iraq will be "a capable partner of the United States" and "a stable democracy that helps fight our common enemies and promote our common interests in the Middle East," he said.
Bush also announced that all active-duty U.S. Army troops in Central Command would have their deployment lengths reduced from 15 months to 12 months. (end) rm.tg KUNA 101943 Apr 08NNNN