WASHINGTON — Taking the advice of his top commander in Iraq, President Bush will not order additional troop drawdowns beyond July, leaving open the possibility that about 140,000 U.S. servicemen and women will still be in the war zone when the next president takes office.
In a 12- to 15-minute progress report, Bush on Thursday will announce shorter combat tours, but troops already in Iraq won't be going home any earlier, at least for now. Senior defense officials said Bush would order Army units heading to Iraq after Aug. 1 to serve 12-month tours rather than their current 15-month deployment — a move that war critics say the president had to make to ease strain on the Army.
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Another let down. My friends and I were all hoping that Bush would announce that all tours would be going back to 12 months and that the guys would be coming home in September. So I am just going to go and cry for the rest of the day.