Strategic Assessment

American president George Bush is adamant: the United States will not withdraw its forces from Iraq before its mission – to secure a free and democratic Iraq – is complete. He said so back in May 2003, after Saddam's statue was toppled, and he has repeated it since, yet again in his January 2006 State of the Union address. In October 2005, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defined the American objectives in Iraq in the following manner: "break the back of the insurgency...keep Iraq from becoming a safe haven [for terrorists]...[have it] turn the corner financially and economicall...[and] build truly national institutions [that will] bridge sects and ethnic group...¦[and] deliver essential services." It is not surprising, therefore, that she did not rule out the possibility that American troops will still be in Iraq ten years hence.