Gen. David Petraeus, commander of US troops in Iraq, has presented a plan for the war there to
President Bush that would stabilize troop levels through the end of the
Bush presidency,
The New York Times reports.
The plan is also sensitive to the needs of the presidential campaign, which, for Republicans to be successful, requires maintained stability and limited bad news. Additionally, monthly evaluations of conditions in Iraq will be conducted to see about the possibility for withdrawing additional troops.
Such withdrawals are highly unlikely as is any possibility these evaluations would serve a purpose beyond
President Bush and candidate
McCain's immediate political needs.
Bush has said numerous times over the past couple of years that he will not make
any major troop withdrawals and that it would be up to the next president to decide whether or not to continue the war.
That's practically the only promise that
Bush has made since becoming president that he's delivering on down to the letter.
