Bush: US troops would leave Iraq from position of success

US troops will be withdrawn from Iraq “from a position of strength and success, not from a position of fear and failure”, President George Bush said today.

He said the decision would be based on a “calm assessment” of the situation on the ground by US military commanders and not by nervous Washington politicians reacting to poll results in the media.

Mr Bush’s comments came as Prime Minister Gordon Brown insisted the withdrawal of British soldiers from their last base in Basra City did not amount to a “defeat” for the UK in southern Iraq.

The President addressed hundreds of troops during a surprise visit to Al-Asad Air base in Anbar, Iraq, with Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.