A Pentagon troop withdrawal plan is among options being considered for Iraq,
the White House said Monday. President Bush said U.S. troop levels will be
determined by military commanders, the new Iraqi government and conditions on
the ground.
Bush told reporters he would await a recommendation from Gen. George Casey,
the top U.S. commander in Iraq. "And one of the things General Casey assured me
of was that whatever recommendation he makes, it'll be aimed toward achieving
victory," Bush said.
"And victory means a free government that is able to sustain itself, defend
itself," Bush said. The president said he was briefed by Casey at the White
House on Friday.
Bush brushed aside reports that Casey had plans for sending home two combat
brigades, or about 7,000 of the 127,000 American troops there, by September
without replacing them.
Tony Snow, Bush's press secretary, said later that such a plan was one of
several under consideration.
"General Casey proposes lots of things and actually laid out more than one
option. And everybody's fastening on one," Snow said. "Certainly that's under
consideration, but I would warn against saying this is what he's saying, this is
what he wants."
"When he makes a recommendation, the president's going to follow it. He
trusts General Casey and he's made it clear," Snow said.
Remarks by the president and Snow followed a New York Times report Sunday
that Casey's plan entailed bringing home about 7,000 U.S. troops by September
and an additional 20,000 or more by the end of 2007.
Democrats cited stories on Casey's reported plan to criticize the White House
and its allies in Congress.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., urged his Senate colleagues "to
note how similar General Casey's apparent plan to withdraw U.S. forces is to the
plan put forward by Senate Democrats last week." That plan was rejected by
majority-party Republicans.
"I wonder how the majority feels today, now that General Casey's plan is in
the open?" said Reid. "Do they disagree with General Casey that we need to begin
ending the open-ended commitment in Iraq? Do they still believe a plan for
reducing our troops levels is defeatist and unpatriotic?"
Asked about Casey's purported plan, Bush only confirmed that he met with
Casey on Friday and that "we talked about a lot of things."
"In terms of our troop presence there, that decision will be made by Gen.
Casey as well as the sovereign government of Iraq, based upon conditions on the
ground," Bush said.
"I've told the American people our commanders will be making the decisions as
to how to achieve victory. And General Casey, of course, is the lead person,"
Bush said.
Bush said he and Casey also talked about the training of Iraqi security
forces, the joint U.S.-Iraqi operation to secure Baghdad and conditions in
rebellious Anbar province and its provincial capital of Ramadi.
"The coalition is in the lead in Ramadi and we're trying to make sure Ramadi
does not become a safe haven for al-Qaida. And so he (Casey) explained to me the
tactics on the ground, what we're doing to secure that city and to run the
al-Qaida types out," Bush said.
Bush spoke with reporters after meeting with leaders of private organizations
that support the U.S. military in Iraq.
Meanwhile, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Casey talked both about
positive trends that he's seeing in Iraq, and the issues that lie ahead.
"The challenges that he talked about are very real and somewhat
unpredictable," said Whitman. "And because of that, there's going to need to be
a certain amount of flexibility that the commander has, to adjust forces over
time."
"There should not be hard and fast timetables associated with our force
adjustments," said Whitman. "The commanders on the ground need the flexibility
to be able to adjust the troop levels based on the conditions that exist."
Snow, the White House spokesman, refused to disclose what Casey told Bush but
said the general has "a number of scenarios in mind for differing situations on
the ground." He said planning would change based on conditions.
"But I'm certainly not going to announce in advance anything that he may have
in mind for the president or that he may be recommending," Snow said. "Just
don't do that in a time of war."
