It is strange to watch a speech that has already been critiqued before it was given. Before the speech, it was reported that the President would talk about bringing troops home, but it was also reported that these troops would have to come home anyway due to proper rotation. I didn't hear the President deny this point so I'll have to assume it is true. Not that he had much credibility anyway, but it is hard to believe anything he says. If President Bush manipulated this information, how can we be sure all of it wasn't manipulated. All the talk of how well things are going may have been deceptively presented.
 
In the speech, President Bush said he made it clear to the Iraqi's they must meet the benchmarks that have been set. Does this mean in the last 4 1/2 years he has never made it clear? It seems to me the only way to make things clear is to tell the Iraqis to meet the benchmarks or we are pulling out. Of course the President didn't miss a chance to mention Al-Qaeda, 12 times. He always mentions them many times, but I hear no talk of a surge in Afghanistan where it has been reported that Al-Qaeda is regrouping. It would certainly make more sense to have more troops where there are more terrorists.
 
The President also mentioned strengthening our military. If we are to strengthen our military we need more soldiers. I find myself shocked by all this talk of our military being stretched too thin. Why didn't the President ask for volunteers in his speech? I don't know why he even bothered giving this speech; the President was going to do whatever he wanted anyway. If the General's report would have been different President Bush would have basically said the same thing, only with a different spin.