Word: drawdowns
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...expressed in recent interviews. ( "Obviously I would like to have seen [British troops] stay longer and larger. At the time, I didn't think it was a good idea, but I understood the domestic British political situation," McCain told the Daily Telegraph in February about British plans for a drawdown in Basra.) Where he wanted to move on to was the much more comfortable area of shared aspirations. "We expressed our great appreciation for the long-standing and unique relationship that exists between our two countries, our common values and our common efforts that are made by both countries...
...that have been made and the cost in blood and treasure, which most Americans disapprove of. McCain, on the other hand, is determined to focus the debate on what to do next, about which the Democratic candidates have remained remarkably vague beyond saying they want to promptly begin a drawdown in forces. "I believe I can convince the American people that after nearly four years of mishandling of the war, that we're now doing the right thing and we're succeeding," McCain told ABC's George Stephanopoulos...
Four Army combat brigades and two Marine battalions are scheduled to withdraw from Iraq in the next few months. General David Petraeus, the head of U.S. forces in Iraq, has warned that too fast a drawdown could result in the "disintegration of the Iraqi security forces, al Qaeda-Iraq regaining lost ground, [and] a marked increase in violence." "American troops," said the President during his State of the Union speech on Monday, "are shifting from leading operations to partnering with Iraqi forces." But when it comes to CLCs, the transition will be difficult because the central Baghdad government does...
...term focus on statesmanship and because they look good next to those scrambling to replace them. Bush has pretty much nowhere to go but up from his current 34% in the polls. The war is improving and it looks as if there will be a steady drawdown of troops over the next 12 months. And even if his diplomatic initiatives, like the Arab-Israeli peace effort, don't bear fruit, he'll get some points for trying...
...commanders on the ground know there was no goodwill behind the decision. "It wasn't because Sadr saw Jesus--let's put it that way," says Major Christopher Coglianese, a staff officer in Baghdad. More likely, the Mahdi Army is waiting for the Americans to begin their drawdown from Baghdad next year. Sunnis worry that when the U.S. troops leave, the Shi'ite militias will resume their pogroms...