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On January 10th, 2007, President Bush outlined his plan for success in Iraq. This plan consisted of a number of changes he and our armed forces will implement in 2007 in order to give us the ability to leave Iraq in the hands of a stable Iraqi government. In case you missed it, here are some of the points of his plan:

*An Iraqi military commander and two deputy commanders will be appointed to control the Baghdad region.

*Iraqi forces in the area will be increased. In all, there will be 18 Iraqi police and army brigades operating out of local police stations. They will bring increased stability and build trust among the local neighborhoods.

*American force levels in the Baghdad area will be increased by 20,000 troops in order to provide increased security and stability.

*American forces in the Anbar province will be increased by 4,000 troops in order to counter increased Al-Qaeda operations in the region.

*Sectarian interference will no longer keep security forces out of certain areas of Baghdad.

*American support is not open ended.

*Military operations in Baghdad must be seen by Iraqis as accompanied by improvement in infrastructure and living conditions.

*Oil revenue will be shared with all Iraqis by the Iraqi government (not clearly laid out how).

*There will be an increase in the number of embedded American military and security advisers.

*An additional carrier group is being moved to that region.

*A reconstruction coordinator will be appointed to oversee reconstruction efforts. The number of reconstruction teams will be doubled.

*We will work closer with other countries in the region toward success in Iraq.

Before I evaluate his speech, I would like to elaborate on a few points the President tried to stress. First, what is the purpose of the troop increase? The president claimed that we are having success clearing neighborhoods of insurgents, but once the troops move on, more insurgents return to the previously cleared neighborhood. The increase in troops will allow those neighborhoods to remain secure. The increase in Iraqi forces will assist with this.

A greater emphasis is being placed on reconstruction. The president said that Iraqis must see marked improvements in infrastructure and quality of life. This will improve the image of Americans and the Iraqi government to Iraqis.

This is one point he really stressed: We will not see immediate improvement. This plan is aimed at long term success, and it will be successful in the long term. There will continue to be suicide

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