Bush Is Riding High After Iraq Report

Democrats, especially those running for the White House, will have a hard time selling their agenda that President Bush isn’t doing a good job in Iraq.

Just this past week Gen. David Petraeus, and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker told Congress that the President’s troop increased had a huge positive effect in Iraq: Sectarian killings are down more than 50 percent in Iraq and more than 80 percent in Baghdad, as reported by CNN.

And if that isn’t enough to get the Democrats, and the few Republicans who are against the war, red in the face, President Bush announced Thursday evening that he will take Petraeus’ recommendations and start troop reductions in December of this year.

So, what did we learn? Well, despite the number of Bush critics who say the president is too stubborn to listen to anyone; his stubbornness seems to have paid off.

But more importantly, the president didn’t bend to political pressure or drastic drops in the polls. He did what any good Commander-In-Chief does: Listen to those who know war best.

He took Petraeus’ recommendations and said that he would proceed with more troop reductions if things continue to go well in Iraq. While the war in Iraq is very unpopular with many Americans and with many whole-heartedly disagreeing with the president’s stance on the war, Bush is standing his ground.

While this is a victory for Bush at the moment and a huge blow to Democratic presidential candidates, it’s not wise to get hopes up. Anything can happen between now and December or later on.

The best thing we can hope for is that the Iraqi government and people can come together and continue to build their new way of life without the military assistance of the U.S. Once that is established, as well as major reduction in terrorists/insurgent activity, then we can celebrate. Because the war in Iraq isn’t over by a long shot.