April 8, 2008

Bush lapdog Petraeus says keep status quo

General David Petraeus has recommended that that the U.S. suspend all troop withdrawals in Iraq and keep the status quo, at least until President Bush is out of office.

Petraeus praised "significant" but "uneven" improvements in security and said troop levels would need a period of evaluation over the summer.

He also said the recent Iraqi operation in Basra was "not adequately planned", but failed to blame himself.

His comments came in a progress report on Iraq, which he and ambassador Ryan Crocker are giving to Congress.

They began by testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Petraeus said security was better than the situation at the time of his last report to Congress in September and significantly better than before the start of the U.S. troop "surge" at the beginning of last year.

But he said the situation "remains exceedingly complex and challenging".

He said there could be "a resurgence of al-Qaeda Iraq" or Shia groups might violate the ceasefire order of influential Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr.

Petraeus said the planned drawdown of about 20,000 troops should continue to July but that afterwards there should be a 45-day "period of consolidation and evaluation".

"At the end of that period, we will commence a process of assessment to examine the conditions on the ground and, over time, determine when we can make recommendations for further reductions."

He said he could not say how many U.S. troops would be in Iraq at the end of the year.

The U.S. has 160,000 troops in Iraq now.