Word: drawdowns
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...number of troops in Iraq from today's 129,000 to about 100,000 by the end of the year, and possibly before the midterm congressional elections. But the country's slide toward an all-out civil war in recent months had begun to convince them that a drawdown anytime soon would not be feasible. Aides say the White House still wants to preserve the option of eventually saying the Iraqis are prepared to assume greater responsibility, allowing the U.S. to "stand down," as Bush puts it in speeches. That's why Administration officials continue to credit the Baghdad government...
There's no reason to believe that the Americans' battle against Iraqi insurgents is going to get better. With U.S. support for the war sinking, the Bush Administration is eager to show that sufficient progress is being made toward quelling the insurgency to justify a drawdown of the 133,000 troops in Iraq. The U.S. praised the naming of a new Iraqi Cabinet last week, even though it includes some widely mistrusted figures from the previous government. And even as commanders try to turn combat duties over to Iraqi forces and pull U.S. troops back from the front lines, parts...
...conditions are likely to move in the right direction and that would allow adjustments in terms of the size composition and mission of our forces," Khalilzad said. Expect that sentiment to be echoed by Bush Administration officials in Washington, where political progress is regarded as essential to allow a drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq. Reading from the same script, Iraq's President Jalal Talabani, America's staunchest ally in Iraq, said Saturday's ceremony "provides a good omen to our people that the government will achieve for them security, stability, peace and prosperity...
...that any hearings or legislation would help terrorists. And the President was forced to accept congressionally mandated restrictions on the tactics that interrogators may use with terrorist suspects. Republicans, their faith shaken in his ability to protect them politically, may even feel emboldened enough to press for a sharper drawdown of troops from Iraq before the November elections. On the domestic front, conservatives are likely to stiffen their resistance to the guest-worker provisions in Bush's immigration plan and, with their constituents feeling the effects of a record trade deficit, could have less patience for Bush's nonconfrontational stance...
...completed on Dec. 15. He has said this knowing full well that the Pentagon is planning to reduce the force by 20,000 after Dec. 15 as part of its normal troop-rotation schedule. One hopes he won't be so crass as to take credit for the drawdown when it occurs. But then Kerry-and many other Democrats-have been calling for a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops, based on progress in Iraq, as if that were some sort of bold and different idea. It isn't. It is precisely what the President has said he will...