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GUEST: Antonia Juhasz, author of “The Bush Agenda” and the forthcoming, “The Oil Tyranny: The World’s Most Powerful Industry and What we must do to stop it”

President Bush yesterday reinforced his commitment to continue the Iraq war in a speech saying that General Petraeus would “have all the time he needs” before further troop reductions. Earlier in the week in two days of testimonies before the House and Senate, General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker reported that they were making significant progress in Iraq (KPFK aired those hearings live, in their entirety). The surge in troops announced over a year ago has been credited with lowering violence in Iraq. Those extra troops will begin returning home at the end of the summer. But, Petraeus recommended a 45 day pause in returning anymore troops after this July. President Bush accepted that recommendation yesterday. Bush also lowered the troop deployment length from 15 to 12 months but refused to consider any additional form of withdrawal despite sharp criticism from members of Congress. As he has done before, Bush’s speech also included strong remarks about Iran that many see as provocative and laying the ground work for a future war.

For more information, visit www.thebushagenda.net.