Bush "Victory Plan" Indefinite Occupation

President George W. Bush's "Iraq victory plan" has drawn rebukes from US Democrats as a plan for "indefinite occupation of Iraq", and a mere effort to reshape remains of failed Iraq strategy. "The president's speech sounded like a plan for indefinite occupation of Iraq, not a strategy for our troops to be successful," Representative Betty McCollum, D-Minnesota, has said, according to the Minneapolis daily. Speaking to a largely military audience at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, Bush Wednesday defiantly refused to set a date for a US pullout from Iraq. Bush said that US troop levels in Iraq would depend on conditions in the occupied country, not on "artificial timetables." McCollum reacted by saying it was up now to the US Congress to focus on drafting a timetable to withdraw US troops from Iraq. Failed Policy US Senator John Kerry, former Democratic presidential candidate, said Bush's speech was rehashed remains of a failed administration policy, Agence France Presse (AFP) said. "The best way to protect the troops, the best way to stand up for the troops, is to provide the best policy for success in Iraq," said Kerry. "The strategy for exit is, in fact, part of the strategy for success. They go hand in hand." Senator Ted Kennedy, an outspoken critic of the Bush administration, said the White House was attempting "to put lipstick on his failed Iraq strategy." "It's still a plan for a continued open-ended commitment, which puts at risk our troops on the ground and our citizens at home." Recent polls have found Bush at the lowest standing of his time in office, with a majority critical of his handling of the Iraq war just one year before November 2006 US legislative and gubernatorial elections. A majority of Americans think the United States is bogged down in a Vietnam-like conflict that has made Washington more, not less, vulnerable to terrorism. Cocoon Speech On her part, Democratic Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski said she was disappointed the US President had not heeded calls to put forward a plan for extracting American forces. "We don't need more slogans," she said. "We need to have a set of benchmarks." Mikulski added Bush should speak before a larger, broader audience as he works to put forth a plan, noting that the American President frequently speaks about the war in front of military audiences, as he did Wednesday. "The president gives cocoon speeches. I think it's time for him to come out from the cocoon to listen to the American people, and maybe even the Congress." Unconvinced with Bush's "victory plan", top House Democrat, Nancy Pelosi, said she backed a proposal by Democratic Rep. John Murtha, calling for a quick pullout of US troops from Iraq. "I'm endorsing what Mr. Murtha is saying, which is that the status quo is not working and that we need to have a plan that makes us safer and our military stronger and makes Iraq more stable," Pelosi said. "I believe that what he has said has great wisdom. While the president is digging a hole, Mr. Murtha is speaking from the light of day about the realities in Iraq," she said. There are currently some 159,000 US troops in Iraq, and some 2,100 have been killed since Bush launched the March 2003 invasion to topple Saddam Hussein. The Pentagon said Monday, November 28, US forces would be reduced as expected by 20,000 to about 140,000 after December's elections. And in another sign of a gradual drawdown, the White House said Saturday, November 26, that Democratic Senator Joseph Biden's plan for a 50,000 troop drawdown next year was "remarkably similar" to its own. "Victory, Mr. Bush?" In his Wednesday's speech, Bush took pains to praise Iraq's fledgling security forces. "The Iraqi forces are earning the trust of their countrymen who are willing to help them in the fight against the enemy." But Britain's The Independent, running the title "Victory, Mr. President?", said Iraq is heading to civil war. "Iraq is getting closer to outright civil war. Sunnis are terrified of Shiite troops and police. The Kurds want to reclaim Kirkuk. Each side has its death squads," the British daily said. Military analyst John Pike told the daily that it was impossible to assess the ability of Iraqi forces. "If they're saying there has been a change around and American forces are not taking the lead, but that Iraqi units are taking the lead, then it's difficult to understand why they are still shipping home so many body-bags."

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