Bush says troop cutbacks might stop (AP says bias journalist cutbacks will never happen)

Yahoo ^ | 1/12/2008 | TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent

[tobyhill]

MANAMA, Bahrain - President Bush said Saturday he is open to the possibility of slowing or stopping plans to bring home more U.S. troops from Iraq, defying domestic demands to speed the withdrawals. Updated on war developments, Bush said the U.S. presence in Iraq will outlast his presidency.

Bush said any decision about troop levels "needs to be based upon success," but that there was no discussion about specific numbers when he was briefed by Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Baghdad.

The president was cheered by news that Iraq's parliament had approved legislation reinstating thousands of former supporters of Saddam Hussein's dissolved Baath party to government jobs. Bush had prodded Iraqi leaders for more than a year to enact the law.

"It's an important step toward reconciliation," Bush said as he opened talks with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa. "It's an important sign that the leaders of that country understand that they must work together to meet the aspirations of the Iraqi people."

The first U.S. president to visit Bahrain received a splashy welcome. Sword-waving men in flowing robes and headdresses swayed and danced to rhythmic music in a palace courtyard. The president and the king were presented with swords and flashed them skyward.

[SandRat]

Odd??? None of this is on the Whitehouse.gov or Defenselink.mil web sites.

[tobyhill]

“Bush plans to reduce troop level in Iraq”

LA Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-bush13jan13,0,4102612.story?coll=la-home-center

Stark contrast in opinions

[aroundabout]

This is not new. The policy of troop withdrawal has always been dictated by results on the ground. The president himself has NEVER mentioned either a date or numbers of troops to be withdrawn.

[tobyhill]

Exactly and that’s what he said, troop levels will be based on the Commanders on the ground.

[aroundabout]

Bush is quoted on Breitbart (DRUDGE)

"After a similar report from Petraeus and Crocker in September, Bush announced he would withdraw some troops from Iraq by July—essentially the 30,000 sent as part of a buildup ordered a year ago—but still keep the U.S. level there at about 130,000.

"The only thing I can tell you we're on track for is, we're doing what we said was going to happen," the president said."

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8U4F8K80&show_article=1

This is NO different then what he has been saying all along. This is only the AP looking to stir up a sh*t storm simply to create controversy. They are trying to paint Bush as a liar (again)