Bush Addresses Troop Levels in Iraq - washingtonpost.com
Interesting speech here that Bush gave in sept of last year...in it he clearly says the he mentioned in APRIL OF 2008 sending 3,500 more troops but actual deployments aren't really clear.
He also said that an additional one battalion would be sent in Jan 2009 (AFTER HE LEAVES OFFICE)..so in reality Gill he SUGGESTED he would in april 2008 send 3,500 which for all we know were never sent.
So in reality Gill and the situation today proves it, Bush during the last year of his term did the absolute minimum in Afghanistan to support the troops or this country's mission there.
Any questions?
Here are some excerpts...
After September the 11th, 2001, Coalition forces destroyed the Taliban regime, we drove al Qaida from the Afghan sanctuary where they plotted and planned unprecedented attacks on our country. We helped Afghans begin to build a new democracy.
Together with our military, American civilian experts helped the Afghan people build their economy and provide basic services and expand health care as well as open up schools for Afghan girls and boys.
These were important successes, yet the enemies of a free Afghanistan refused to give up the fight. They sought to undermine the democratic government so they could regain the place of dominance they enjoyed in Afghanistan before September the 11th. With the help of their sanctuary in Pakistan, they ruthlessly attacked innocent Afghans across the country.
As the security situation changed, America and our Coalition partners responded with troop increases. At the NATO Summit in Bucharest in April, I told our allies the United States was deploying 3,500 more Marines to Afghanistan and that we would make additional forces available in 2009. I also called on allies to increase their force levels.