Bush backs Iraq withdrawal freeze - BBC Bulgaria

US President Saint George Tungsten Shrub states he will set a freezing on the backdown of United States military personnel from Iraq, as requested by his top full general in the country.

In a statement the president said the "drawdown" would go on until July as planned, but then the military would necessitate clip to measure the adjacent step.

He said he had told his senior commanding officer General Saint David Petraeus "he'll have got all the clip he needs".

Mr Shrub also said a "major strategical shift" had occurred in Iraq.

He said the past 15 calendar months had seen military and political progress, and that "today we have got the initiative".

By July the United States presence should be reduced from 20 brigades to 15 - leaving about 140,000 military personnel in Iraq, about the same figure as were present before the United States "surge" began in early 2007.

Mr Shrub is portraying the backdown as a mark of the success for the surge, and is trying to do as much working capital from it as possible, states the BBC's Adam Brookes in Baghdad.

But by referring to a "major strategical shift" he have got used linguistic communication that Gen Petraeus and United States embassador to Republic Of Iraq Ryan Crocker have deliberately avoided, our letter writer adds.

Gen Petraeus said the state of affairs in Republic Of Republic Of Iraq was still unsatisfactory

Mr Shrub also said he was cutting circuits of duty in Iraq and Islamic State Of Afghanistan from 15 to 12 months, effectual from 1 August, and that service force would have got a twelvemonth at place for every twelvemonth served overseas.

The determination to hold backdowns intends the United States presence in Republic Of Iraq is likely to last well beyond January, when Mister Shrub will go forth business office and a new president will take over.

Iraq is one of the cardinal battlefields of the election campaign, with Republican Toilet McCain arguing for continued battle while Democratic challengers Edmund Hillary Bill Clinton and Barack Obama phone call for full withdrawal.

Progress

In testimony on Wednesday before the House Armed Services Committee, Gen Petraeus said advancement had been made in Republic Of Iraq but many challenges remained.

He said the suspension of troop backdowns after July would let a time period of reassessment.

Gen Petraeus told the House panel he was improbable to name for another build-up of military personnel in Republic Of Iraq even if the security state of affairs deteriorated after some military personnel came home.

"That would be a pretty distant idea in my mind," he said.

He have said a planned "drawdown" of about 20,000 military personnel should go on to July, but afterwards there should be a 45-day "period of consolidation and evaluation" before any more than military personnel leave.

Gen Petraeus could not state how many United States military personnel would be in Republic Of Iraq at the end of the year. There are currently 160,000 in Iraq.