President Bush this week announced that he would reduce troop levels in Iraq by roughly 8,000 by February, a move that would bring the U.S. deployment to 138,000, a few thousand more than before the 2007 troop surge. Bush said the troop reduction was now possible because “civilian deaths are down, sectarian killings are down, suicide bombings are down, and normal life is returning.” At the same time, Bush said the U.S. would commit about 5,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, where insurgent attacks and coalition losses are at a record high.
Bush’s announcement reverberated immediately on the campaign trail. John McCain hailed the development as proof that the U.S. was winning the war in Iraq, thanks to the surge, which he backed. Barack Obama said Bush’s plan “comes up short” both on troop reductions in Iraq and troop additions in Afghanistan.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Putin’s threat to fracture Ukrainefeature Fears that Russia was building a pretext for an invasion of eastern Ukraine grew, as pro-Kremlin protesters occupied government buildings in three cities.
-
Curbing NSA surveillance
feature The White House said it will propose a broad overhaul of the National Security Agency’s domestic surveillance program.
-
Downsizing the military
feature A new budget plan for the Pentagon would save hundreds of billions of dollars by taking the military off its post-9/11 war footing.
-
Putin ratchets up pressure on Ukraine
feature Russian President Vladimir Putin put 150,000 troops at the Ukraine border on high alert and cut off $15 billion in financial aid.
-
Ukraine on the brink of civil war
feature Ukraine’s capital was engulfed in flames and violence when hundreds of riot police launched an assault on an anti-government protest camp.
-
Ukraine at the breaking point
feature An alliance of opposition groups vowed protests would continue until President Viktor Yanukovych is removed from power.
-
Dim prospects for Syrian talks
feature A long-awaited Syrian peace conference in Montreux, Switzerland, quickly degenerated into a cross fire of bitter accusations.
-
The fight over jobless benefits
feature A bill to restore federal benefits for the long-term unemployed advanced when six Republican senators voted with Democrats.