The Iraq War
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Troop Surge Announced 
Jan. 10, 2007


    On January 10, 2007, President George W. Bush announced a change in policy in the war effort in Iraq. He announced that there would be a troop surge of over 20,000 troops to Iraq in order to provide security in Baghdad and Al Anbar Province and to support the effort in creating a stable and unified Iraq. The surge, which was titled “The New Way Forward,” sent the majority of the five additional US Army brigades into Baghdad in the first few months of 2007. The details of the brigades are as follows:          
         
-2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division: 3,447 troops. Deployed to Baghdad in January           
         
-4th Brigade, 1st Infantry Division: 3,447 troops. Deployed to Baghdad in February           
        
-3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division: 3,784 troops. Deployed to southern Baghdad Belts in March           
        
-4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division: 3,921 troops. Deployed to Diyala province in April          

        
-2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division: 3,784 troops. Deployed to the southeast of Baghdad in May        
   
   In addition to the deployment of these additional troops, President Bush extended the tour of most of the U.S. Marines and Army soldiers in Iraq already. The policy change also was a change in the goal of the U.S. military in Iraq to “help Iraqis clear and secure neighborhoods, to help them protect the local population, and to help ensure that the Iraqi forces left behind are capable of providing the security." President Bush believed that the additional troops could accomplish this.     Immediately following the announcement of the troop surge, Democrats called on Congress to reject the surge. “The New Way Forward” met opposition across the nation and there seemed to be a general consensus that the additional troops in Iraq would not solve anything and that it was essentially a wasteful move. When asked how the seemingly failing effort in Iraq could be brought up in a positive light, President Bush had this to say: