Word: troop
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...past week, along the main road that links eastern and western Georgia, columns of Russian artillery and troop trucks could be seen rumbling first towards the capital, then in the opposite direction, then off the road into the surrounding countryside. Reports of their withdrawal or advance based on such movements are picked up by government spokesmen in Tbilisi and broadcast around the world...
...Thus far, French leaders haven't proven any more successful in hammering out a strategy and timetable for victory than their peers from the 39 other nations participation in the Afghan mission. But current French troop reinforcements mean Paris has an increasing interest (and perhaps rising influence) in making sure the operation doesn't remain what now appears an open-ended face off with resurgent Taliban forces...
...establishment will be effectively checked out for roughly the next two months, meaning any big decisions by the Iraqi government are unlikely. In Washington, President Bush is eager to formalize a deal, which would not have to be approved by lawmakers unlike in Iraq. But any big decisions about troop levels will come after Petraeus makes his final recommendations on the U.S. military presence in September, shortly before he takes on a new job as head of the U.S. forces across the Middle East. That leaves American and Iraqi negotiators largely in limbo even as talks continue...
...Iraq has isolated McCain, who once said he favored a 100-year presence there. And so he backpedaled, calling a 16-month withdrawal plan supported by Iraq's Prime Minister a "pretty good" timetable. Bush's new tactics may complicate the calculations of Obama as well. Even a symbolic troop drawdown in Iraq before the election could depress antiwar sentiment among Obama's most loyal voters. Obama knows that as troops are withdrawn, Bush's approval ratings will rise--giving Republicans up and down the ballot a possible boost. That bump will be far larger if bin Laden is captured...
...with prospects for a peace deal slipping, the sharks will start circling. The increasingly lame-duck Bush Administration is already reversing itself on major Middle East policies by sending senior diplomats to engage Iran and hinting at a horizon for a troop withdrawal in Iraq. Hamas, already masters of the Gaza Strip, bragged recently that they could take on Fatah in the West Bank too, if not for President Abbas's movement enjoying the de facto protection of the Israelis. And Olmert's rivals also smell blood. Tzipi Livni, his Foreign Minister and rival within the Kadima Party, called once...