Bush signals no change of course

By Jonathan Marcus
BBC diplomatic correspondent

Bush was short on detail over his Iraq strategy

After a crowded week of evidence sessions on Capitol Hill from the US commander in Iraq and Washington's ambassador there, plus news conferences and briefings, President George W Bush has now delivered his verdict.

The current US strategy in Iraq will continue, though some US troops will be coming home, a measure according to Mr Bush, of the success already achieved.

President Bush is not for turning.

He believes his strategy in Iraq is succeeding.

And he clearly has no intention of changing course now.

By offering the prospect of limited troop cuts, he hopes to disarm his domestic critics, especially those voices in his own Republican Party who have argued for a fundamental shift in the US approach.

Leaving Iraq looks set to be the top item on the agenda for the next president when he - or maybe she - enters the White House in January 2009. Bush speech: Full text

Strip away the rhetoric, though, and Mr Bush is bowing to the inevitable.

The surge in US forces could not continue without placing probably an intolerable strain on US service personnel and their families.

By next summer, just a few months ahead of the coming presidential election, the United States will have some 130,000 troops in Iraq - the same number that they had at the start of the "surge".

Vision without detail

Mr Bush spoke in his speech of a "vision for a reduced American presence" in Iraq.

But there was no detail at all of the timing or pace of any further draw-down - just another review promised next spring along the lines of the one just carried out.

As one pundit put it, "March has become the new September."

Mr Bush's critics talk of the need for a diplomatic surge

Of course there are no good options in Iraq.

The Democrats and a few influential foreign policy experts on the Republican side want to see a faster troop withdrawal with, in the meantime, US forces re-deploying and taking on a more limited range of missions.

Mr Bush's critics talk of the need for a diplomatic surge - a heavy-weight effort to define and secure Washington's abiding interests in the region.

But there was no sign of this in Mr Bush's speech.

Leaving Iraq looks set to be the top item on the agenda for the next president when he, or maybe she, enters the White House in January 2009.