[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 35 (Monday, September 3, 2007)]
[Pages 1159-1160]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement Following a Meeting With Military Leaders

August 31, 2007

    The Vice President and I met today with Secretary of Defense Gates 
and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. We had a very productive discussion.
    We discussed our commitment to provide our military all it needs to 
meet the challenges of this new century. This includes a larger Army and 
Marine Corps. In January, I accepted Secretary Gates's recommendation to 
increase the overall strength of the two services by 92,000 soldiers and 
marines over the next 5 years. This will strengthen our military and 
help reset our forces to respond to multiple contingencies around the 
world at any given moment. The effort is well underway, but there is 
more to do, and the Joint Chiefs are doing a terrific job monitoring the 
health of our All-Volunteer Force.
    We also discussed military and civilian coordination. We now have 
joint civilian and military teams deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan, the 
Horn of Africa, and the Philippines. In Iraq, we have more than doubled 
the number of civilian-led Provincial Reconstruction Teams this year, 
most of which are embedded with U.S. combat brigades. These teams are a 
force multiplier for our men and women in uniform, and they are 
essential to the bottom-up political progress taking place in Anbar, 
Diyala, and other Provinces across Iraq. The Civilian Reserve Corps now 
being developed will enlarge the pool of civilian volunteers to support 
and enhance our missions.
    The American people will soon hear an assessment of the situation on 
the ground in Iraq and recommendations from Ambassador Crocker and 
General Petraeus. This status report comes less than 3 months since our 
new strategy became fully operational and will assess what is going 
well, what can be improved, and what adjustments might be made in the 
coming months. Congress asked

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for this assessment, and Members of Congress should withhold judgment 
until they have heard it.
    The stakes in Iraq are too high and the consequences too grave for 
our security here at home to allow politics to harm the mission of our 
men and women in uniform. It is my hope that we can put partisanship and 
politics behind us and commit to a common vision that will provide our 
troops what they need to succeed and secure our vital national interests 
in Iraq and around the world.
    I always leave these meetings inspired by our men and women in 
uniform and resolved to do everything I can to support them. The brave 
men and women of our Armed Forces and their families are making heroic 
sacrifices to secure our country. America will honor these sacrifices by 
ensuring that our children and grandchildren inherit a more peaceful, 
just, and democratic world.

Note: The statement referred to Gen. David H. Petraeus, USA, commanding 
general, Multi-National Force--Iraq.