Bush Addresses The Nation

As of now president Bush has just finished his speach to the nation. At this point i must say that this speach seems to me like a very good summary of the current situation. The president summarized the recent progress and what that means for troop deployment over the course of the next year. The president has also now established that even though are troops are likely to be there even after he leaves office that success is possible over the coming years. This is the speach that has been long coming and many Americans have wanted to hear, that we are succeding in parts of Iraq and because of that we can begin to draw down troops.

As far as long term stablization troops go the United States has had troops in Germany since the end of World War II and more troops in Korea since the end of that war. It is my opinion and members of the press seem to share this opinion that the United States will do the same with Iraq, that is; have troops there for stability of the region rather than combat purposes. These troops will serve to deter any interference or agression from other radical countries in the region and whose mear presence (even if it is non-combative) in Iraq will add strength to the newly elected government.

To many Americans who have been looking for a firm deadline to the war they did not get get the answers they were looking for. Hoever the president has layed out an immediate course of action and left room in the future for adaptability and mobility which to me seems to be the logical and smart thing to do. As somone who has read both Sun Tzu's and Machiavelli's Art of War as well as studied other classical literature on politic and war it is of my opinion based on this knowledge that having an unflexible plan for a war with no leway or mobility is not just a bad plan but just plain stupid and any one in politics who calls for such a timeline is going against most scholars in military history and they themselves now share the title of stupid.

In summary we the American people as well as the people of Iraq and the world now have a clearer view of the situation in Iraq and if current trends continue sometime in the next several years America will be able to withdraw from a daily combat position in Iraq.