Bush To Face Scrutiny After Iraq Visit

President In Australia For Summit; Hinted At Troop Reduction During Surprise Trip To Anbar Province

(CBS/AP)  President Bush arrived in Australia Tuesday night for the Pacific Rim leaders' summit after suggesting on a surprise visit to Iraq that U.S. troop strength could be reduced if security continues to improve.

Mr. Bush landed in Sydney after an unscheduled detour to Iraq's Anbar province, a region once rife with insurgents. He arrived ahead of a summit of 21 Asia-Pacific countries where the debate over the war seemed sure to follow him.

"We're having good success on the ground from a security perspective," Mr. Bush told CBS News Anchor Katie Couric in an interview.

Mr. Bush said his top advisers in Iraq told him "if we continue to have that kind of success … then we can do the same job with fewer troops."

The president said he came to Anbar province "because you're seeing reconciliation. You're seeing local folks getting sick and tired of al Qaeda and helping coalition forces deal a blow to al Qaeda, which by the way makes this country more secure."

Couric traveled this week with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, to Fallujah in Anbar province, once a stronghold of the insurgency, and reports the troop surge appears to have helped quell much of the violence there.

Mr. Bush's trip was a dramatic move to steal the thunder from the Democratic Congress as it returns to Washington with fresh hopes of ending the unpopular war, now in its fifth year. Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker will testify before lawmakers next week, and then Mr. Bush will announce how he intends to proceed in Iraq.

The president told reporters aboard Air Force One that his strategy sessions with U.S. and Iraqi leaders and chats about morale with soldiers and Marines at an air base in western Iraq left him hopeful that positive change is starting in the 4-year-old conflict.

The question, he said, is, "Will it last?"

Mr. Bush is nearing a decision on how long to maintain the current U.S. troop buildup. He sent 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq to enhance security in Baghdad and Anbar Province. Despite military successes, political progress - especially at the national level - is lagging and Democrats and some prominent Republicans want troops called home.

"How many troops does it take to protect us?" Mr. Bush asked. "What does it take to have this Iraqi democracy succeed?"

Debate over the Iraq war was certain to surface at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. Mr. Bush begins summit talks Wednesday, meeting with Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

Howard is a staunch Iraq war ally, reported CBS News White House correspondent Peter Maer, but he faces a public increasingly sour about the Australian troop presence in Iraq.

He also faces an aggressive election challenge from opposition leader Kevin Rudd, and Rudd's desire to pull Australian troops out of Iraq will surely be broached in the talks.

Mr. Bush also is scheduled to meet with leaders from Japan, China, Russia and South Korea. Some have dubbed this year's APEC the "China summit," a reference to Beijing's rising influence.

"Is this a China summit? The answer is absolutely not," Mr. Bush said.

[toldyouso21]

Bush will say just about ANYTHING to buy time. Like most immature liars, he still feels his best chance for credibility depends on him never admitting to anything--especially to being wrong.

If we lost every American soldier in Iraq tommorrow--Bush would still declare the war and his lies were the right thing to do. He''s the kind of man, who would deny that he was fvcking another woman, even if the woman was right up under him his tool buried deep inside. And he''d keep lying and insisting whoever caught him was mistaken--right to the end. Allen, Craig, Scooter, Rove, Cheney, Bush--et al...LIARS til the very end. Who are you going to believe? Them? Or your own lying eyes?

[starleo146]

Subject: Ronald Reagan in his recently published diaries, May 17, 1986.

Quote:

"A moment I''''''''ve been dreading. George [Bush] brought his ne''''''''re-do-well
son around this morning and asked me to find the kid a job. Not the
political one who lives in Florida. The one who hangs around here all
the time looking shiftless. This so-called kid is already almost 40
and has never had a real job. Maybe I''''''''ll call Kinsley over at The New
Republic and see if they''''''''ll hire him as a contributing editor or
something. That looks like easy work."-- Ronald Reagan in his recently
published diaries, May 17, 1986.

I thought some of you would enjoy this just got it on a e-mail I died laughing he hasn''''''''t changed one bit.
Posted by starleo146 at 08:20 PM : Sep 05, 2007

[j4401]

The Real Reason We''re In Iraq:
An influential group of conservatives convinced President George W. Bush that it was in America''s best interests to conquer Iraq as a first step toward dominating the oil-producing nations in the Middle East. There was no "exit plan" because we never intended to exit. The plan was, and is, to build military bases in Iraq and stay there forever. Our leaders see Iraq as a place to make money. So Bush & Co. have set up their friends to cash in on the rebuilding of Iraq.

[clestes-2009]

NOTHING Bush says should be taken as what is going to happen. He is a liar, a war criminal, a murderer and cares nothing for US troops or the Iraqi people.

Those troops will not come home, he is planning to invade Iran!!

Until he leaves office, he will continue to screw around with the middle east and hopes to ultimately cause another world war.

[drinuk]

"Bush Faces Scrutiny" WRONG!!!
Should read "Bush Faces Firing Squad"

[realpatriot1]

Lars008,

I looked more closely at the polls you cited yesterday. The USA Today poll showed that only 31% thought the surge was working but that those who supported the war were more optimistic.

The amazing Zogby poll showing 54% approval for the war from a public which all other polls still show firmly opposed to the war does not explain its methodology. I went to the methodology section to find out how the respondents broke down between republicans, democrats, and independents and how they achieved such a low margin of error for an online poll that anyone could respond to.

It didn''t explain the methodology at all or how they determined that the sample was representative. It did say that "groups were weighted" but didn''t explain how.

The Anbar visit, this poll, the vague promise of troop reductions, and the leaked official report which finds the benchmarks being met all smell of a PR blitz in the final hour to fend off republicans joining with Senator Warner to support a bipartison agreement to pull the plug on this fiasco.

[brianbwb-2009]

He had to make a "surprise" trip, if they announced it, the Iraqis would be waiting at the airport with rockets and grenades.

Come to think of it, not a bad idea, anyone know when he gets back to Washington?

[meboard]

donnie900, I condemn your posts for seven generations...gives us a break already...ugh!

[meboard]

donnie900, I condemn your posts for seven generations...gives us a break already...ugh!

[meboard]

neobrian, I STONGLY disagree with your ranking of Top 10 Worst Presidents!!!! Warren Harding should be #7 and James Buchanan #8. Shame on you ...shame I say!!! But you did get the rest right... Yours in christ...or whatever? :^)

[sgtrds]

Do they have Computers in your Trailer Park now! Wow! That must be exciting for you Klan types huh?

Posted by MCVet at 09:34 PM : Sep 04, 2007

They do, but like most redneck trailer parks they don''t have any electricity (or at least they never paid the bill) so they have a generator the runs on the methane from recycled beer far*ts. they keep the generators in their pre-teen daughters room so they have a ready excuse to tell the wife when she wonders why daddy spends much time in there late at night.....

[mcvet]

Fact: Earlier WE learned that Sheryl One Square and the **** may have terminated an endangered polar bear from Darfur''''s central zoo.

Fact: Ellen (degenerate) and the ****-in-chief took pictures for the Good Morning Jo show.

Fact: The **** and Breck boy played on the rug.




Posted by stonebog at 05:31 PM : Sep 04, 2007

Do they have Computers in your Trailer Park now! Wow! That must be exciting for you Klan types huh? ROFLMAO But someone from the party of Senator Wide Stance shouldn''t be bringing attention to the issue of G-a-y-s! Didn''t you get the note from the Grand Wizard on this? I''ll bet you get down to the truck stop every day or so though... you peekers and Toe Tappers are all the same... say you''re one way and be another! ROFLMAO Sieg Heil Toe Tapper!!

[mcvet]

"General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker have said that if the security situation continues to improve the way it has, we may be able to achieve the same objectives with fewer troops."


President Bush

He''s a LIAR! This low life piece of Human Trash has NO intentions of EVER bringing our troops home and he admits it in this new book. He''s a LIAR!! Sieg Heil Bush!!

[realpatriot1]

Edward1975,

No insult taken. For what it''s worth, my take on the issue you raised about Desert Storm and now is this. What''s possibly different is that Bush 41 didn''t entrust his foreign policy to Cheney to the same degree as Bush 43.

Also, in Desert Storm we were concerned about the flow of oil and didn''t want Sadaam to threaten the Saudis. While a regional conflict disrupting the flow is still a major concern, there''s an entirely different issue this time.

That''s the rise of Russia as both a supplier of energy and a state sponser of our traditional suppliers at a time when China and the rapidly developing world is competing with us for every drop and known reserves are being rapidly tapped out. I think Cheney is looking at this both as a greedy businessman and as a nationalist.

Well, it''s all conjecture. Good exchanging thoughts with you and have a good night.

[donnie900]

I CONDEMN YER SOULS FER 7 GENERATIONS!

[neobrian-2009]

Top Ten WORST Presidents in U.S. History
1. George W. Bush
2. George W. Bush
3. George W. Bush
4. George W. Bush
5. George W. Bush
6. Richard M. Nixon
7. James Buchanan
8. Warren G. Harding
9. Andrew Johnson
10.Franklin Pierce

He is So Bad that it is literally incredible to see this brutal part of American history taking place daily.

[edward1975-2009]

realpatriot1: your points are well taken and was not trying to tie you in with troutfisher and his twin, but I feel if the whole issue were oil we could have accomplished this when George sr. was in office. Kuwait was there for the taking and Iraq had had their elite forces the Republican Guard, surrendering quicker than the French in WWII. And from all accounts, there''s more oil in tiny Kuwait than Iraq. I don''t doubt oil plays a part, but you don''t open yourself to this type of scrutiny over this miniscule amount, as far as we are concerned. It would be far better to take the reserves in southern Utah and more cost effective as far as what the war has cost. Again no insult meant, I read a lot of your stuff and just like everyone else sometimes agree, sometimes not. Take Care.

[gkc99]

"If the war isn''''t about oil then Cheney should have no problem releasing the 2001 energy task force notes. The heavily redacted portions which were released contained maps of Iraqi oil fields, so it''''s rather obvious that Iraqi oil was on Cheney''''s radar long before the invasion."

Do the maps show the 100 BBl find in western Iraq so casually mentioned in the spring of this year as being "newly discovered"?

[realpatriot1]

Edward1975,

Just to clarify my responses to you a bit, I''m not arguing that the war was about oil and I''m definitrly not trying to take sides in the exchange of insults that''s been going on between you and jimfinister.

I''m cetainly not in a position to know what the true motivations were and it may be that the reasons you claim had more to do with it.

My point is that I think it was at least a factor given the clear evidence that Cheney was zeroed in on those oil fields and they were making the case for an Iraq-Al Quaeda connection the day after Sept. 11 with no indication of Iraqi involvement.

I don''t necessarily buy into the theory that it was all about oil but I think the reason some people suspect it is partly understandable given the administration''s behavior and their lack of openess and candor about how they''ve been conducting the nation''s business.

[likeitis5050]

donnie900 at 06:00 PM : Sep 04, 2007

The law of supply and demand, donnie. Job security, and all you have to do is create a climate of fear and keep it at level orange, with the occassional red alert just to keep the people from finding out the truth. We have JUST enough people to work with here (50.9999%)and the future is just right for uncertainty and insecurity for a ''protector and fighter of evil empires'' to come to the rescue. And all that is required is that they give up any right to think for themselves. Now what to do with the other 48.999% who see it for what it is...BS? !!!!! They will be the Anti-Americans...for questioning the protector. That''s the plan...stay the course.