Out of all the slides and talk of statistics yesterday, there’s one in particular that’s stood out. This one:
In it, Gen. Petraeus has helpfully indicated the ambiguity of the timing of future troop reductions with tiny question marks. 2008 or beyond? Who knows?
In an analysis, Paul Richter of The Los Angeles Times says the takeaway is clear:
The talk in Washington on Monday was all about troop reductions, yet it also brought into sharp focus President Bush’s plans to end his term with a strong U.S. military presence in Iraq, and to leave tough decisions about ending the unpopular war to his successor.The plans outlined by the U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus, would retain a large force in the country — perhaps more than 100,000 troops — when the time comes for Bush to move out of the White House in January 2009….
But while Petraeus and Crocker made the administration’s general goals clear, it left uncertain their thinking on a variety of key issues.
Nothing new was said, for example, on how the administration intends to try to break apart the governmental gridlock in Baghdad, which has obstructed the administration’s plan to bring about national reconciliation through agreements by the national government. Does the administration want to try to overhaul the badly balkanized government, or empower the local governments?
Also unanswered was what course the administration will take if it turns out that fewer U.S. forces are unable to maintain the current level of security when the five brigades leave by summer.
Those issues most likely will be left for the next president, whose new job is looking tougher all the time.