U.S. President George W. Bush makes a statement about U.S. military casualties in Iraq, outside of the Oval Office of White House in Washington July 31, 2008. [Photo: Xinhua]
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U.S. President George W. Bush Thursday laid out a picture of "progress" in Iraq and announced plans to cut Iraq combat tours from 15 months to 12 months.
Speaking from the White House, Bush said July has been a month of encouraging news from Iraq.
"Violence is down to its lowest levels since the spring of 2004 and we are now in our third consecutive month with reduced violence levels holding steady," Bush added.
He said since the progress in Iraq allows shorter tours of duty for U.S. troops, starting Aug.1, the duration of troop tours in Iraq will be cut from 15 months to 12 months.
The new tour policy "relieves the burden on our forces, and it will make life easier for our wonderful military families," Bush said.
In fact, the shorter tours apply only to troops whose deployments begin Friday or later. Tours will not be reduced for currently deployed troops.
Nine U.S. troop deaths have been reported this month, according to a count of figures released by the Pentagon.
U.S. casualties in Iraq have been lower in 2008 than last year.
There were 40 deaths in January, 29 in February, 38 in March, 52 in April, 19 in May, and 29 in June.
Last year, there were 83 deaths in January, 81 in February, 81 in March, 104 in April, 128 in May, 101 in June, 80 in July, 84 in August, 65 in September, 38 in October, 37 in November, and 23 in December.
Bush attributes the improved security conditions in Iraq to last year's troop surge and the "rising competency" of Iraqi security forces.
Therefore, he said reductions of U.S. troops in Iraq could continue if security holds.
Bush said top U.S. commander in Iraq Gen. David Petraeus will provide later in the year "recommendations on future troop levels, including further reductions in our combat forces as conditions permit."
However, Bush warned that the United States remains "a nation at war," and "the terrorists remain dangerous and they are determined to strike our country and our allies again."
Bush also said progress has been made in the negotiation of a long-term security pact between the United States and Iraq.
The Bush administration had hoped to seal the deal by the end of July but the goal now looks unlikely due to differences on the timing of U.S. troops withdrawal and other thorny issues.
Analysts said Bush is trying to use the recent security gains to protect his legacy on the Iraq war, which has already entered the sixth year and is very unpopular both at home and abroad.
The majority of Americans believe the war is not worth fighting, but they are split on how to wrap it up.
That leaves an opening for the Bush administration and Republican John McCain to exploit for political gains.
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama was forced to move to the center on the issue.
Although he still insists on a fixed timetable to pull back U.S. combat troops, there is an obvious change on his policy tone.
Obama now says he will listen more to the commanders in Iraq and remains uncommitted to a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops.