President Bush Announces Modest Troop Cuts

Sept. 9, 2008— -- President Bush announced Tuesday the withdrawal of 8,000 U.S. troops from Iraq by February, enabling 5,000 soldiers to be sent to Afghanistan to partially meet the request from top military commanders for the conflict there.

With 146,000 U.S. troops currently in Iraq, President Bush said additional American forces could be withdrawn in 2009 if conditions improve. But the pace and scope of any additional drawdowns will be a decision left for the next president.

In making his remarks at the military's National Defense University in Washington, Bush said, "Here is the bottom line: While the enemy in Iraq is still dangerous, we have seized the offensive, Iraqi forces are becoming increasingly capable of leading and winning the fight."

Some Troops Begin Withdrawal

While the president did not announce the withdrawal of any more combat brigades from Iraq this year, some troops will begin to be drawn down in 2008. Some 3,400 combat support troops sent to assist the five combat brigades that made up what came to be known as "the surge" will begin to come home this fall and will not be replaced. It remains unclear if their withdrawal will be completed by the end of the year or will carry over into January.

Also coming home without being replaced will be a battalion of 1,500 Marines currently based in Anbar Province scheduled to rotate out of Iraq in November. The battalion intended to have replaced them will be ordered into Afghanistan instead.

A combat brigade originally slated to replace an outgoing brigade in Iraq this January will also be ordered into Afghanistan.

The top U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, had been expected to recommend a larger drawdown of forces this year, perhaps an additional combat brigade, but recent events like the departure of 2,000 Georgian troops serving in Iraq after the conflict changed those expectations.

Petraeus' recommendation is seen as a compromise, given that he had favored a more cautious recommendation to keep U.S. troop strength level through next summer to maintain security gains in Iraq he continues to describe as fragile. The Joint Chiefs of Staff had favored a faster withdrawal that would allow the shift of additional troops from Iraq to Afghanistan.

U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan have said they would like an additional three combat brigades, or 10,000 U.S. troops, to help fight the resurgent Taliban. Defense Secretary Gates said the Pentagon was looking at ways to enable more troops to arrive in Afghanistan "sooner rather than later." But Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has repeatedly said in recent months that the military was so tight for troops that no more could be sent unless there was a drawdown of troops from Iraq.

The 5,000 U.S. troops now heading to Afghanistan will meet some of that demand. The Marines will continue the critical mission of training Afghan security forces in southern and western Afghanistan. The combat brigade will likely help out with a winter fighting season against the Taliban that a top U.S. military commander said last week would be the most significant since 2002.