President Bush said Wednesday a larger U.S. military will be needed to sustain a long-term war on terrorism, though he has not yet decided whether to order a short-term surge of troops into Iraq.
“I’m inclined to believe that we need to increase the permanent size of both the United States Army and the United States Marines,” Bush said at an end-of-the-year news conference. “We’re going to be in a long struggle against radicals and extremists.”
Bush did not specify how many troops he would like to add, saying only: “We have an obligation to ensure our military is capable of sustaining this war over the long haul and performing the many tasks that we ask of them.”
Incoming Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said Bush finally “heeded Democratic calls to increasethe size of the military. Unfortunately, it is troubling to see that he still does not understand the need for urgent change in Iraq.”
Bush said he has not yet reached a final decision on whether to temporarily “surge” troops into Iraq, though White House aides said the president is leaning toward taking such a step.
“I haven’t made up my mind yet about more troops,” Bush said. “I’m listening to our commanders. I’m listening to the Joint Chiefs, of course. I’m listening in and out of government.”
Bush acknowledged the “optimism” he exhibited in the wake of successful Iraqi elections a year ago has given way to a “clear-eyed” realism about the prospects for peace in 2007.
The year “2006 was a difficult year for our troops and the Iraqi people,” he said. “We began the year with optimism after watching nearly 12 million Iraqis go to the polls to vote for a unity government and a free future.”
He acknowledged that insurgents “responded fiercely to this advance of freedom” by inciting sectarian violence between Shiites and Sunnis.
“And over the course of the year, they had success,” he lamented. “Their success hurt our efforts to help the Iraqis rebuild their country, it set back reconciliation, it kept Iraq’s unity government and our coalition from establishing security and stability throughout the country.”
In light of these setbacks, the president declined to repeat last month’s assertion that “we’re winning” in Iraq. Instead, he said Wednesday that “we’re going to win,” a formulation that was consistent with recent testimony by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who told the Senate the U.S. is neither winning nor losing.
“I’m not going to make predictions about what 2007 will look like in Iraq, except that it’s going to require difficult choices and additional sacrifices because the enemy is merciless and violent,” Bush said. “We enter this new year clear-eyed about the challenges in Iraq.”
He also vowed that terrorists will not “run us out of the Middle East.”
“They think it’s just a matter of time before America grows weary and leaves, abandons the people of Iraq,” Bush said. “That’s not going to happen.”
