Bush: No more troop withdrawals from Iraq

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
President George W. Bush said he will not accept additional troop withdrawals from Iraq beyond those already planned if they would jeopardize recent security gains. Speaking at the US Defense Department on the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, Bush signaled Wednesday that he is unlikely to order new reductions after next month's report from the top US military officers in Iraq. He says that increasing the pace of withdrawals could unravel the progress spurred by an increase of 30,000 troops over the past year. The president told an audience of Pentagon leaders, soldiers and diplomats that "having come so far and achieved so much, we are not going to let this happen."