President Bush's decision to withdraw 30,000 troops by July 2008 is just a smokescreen for Republicans in Congress to hide behind and to deny reality for the rest of the Bush presidency.
President Bush must face the facts that his grand plans for Iraq are unachievable and Iraq will not become the 51st state as the President had hoped. The troop surge in Iraq was supposed to create enough breathing space for the Iraqi government to achieve political reconciliation, meet their benchmarks, and quell the sectarian violence. None of this has happened. Instead, the Iraqi government has been boycotted by both Sunni and Shia members, only 3 of the 18 benchmarks were successfully met, and we have had the deadliest summer in Iraq to date.
The troop reduction suggested by General Patraeus will only bring us back directly to where we started at pre-surge troop levels. President Bush is desperately clinging on to General Petraeus' recommendations in an effort to influence Congress to allow him to continue this war for the duration of his presidency.
Congress must not be fooled into granting President Bush his wishes of endless war in Iraq. Instead, Congress must act decisively and produce binding legislation that requires President Bush to develop a strategy to bring our troops home.
Our troops have done everything they can do for Iraq militarily. A stable Iraq can only be achieved by the Iraqis themselves - They must take control of their country and reconcile within.
