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BUSH PREPARES FOR TROOP PULLOUT BY 2006
The Bush administration has been quietly laying the groundwork for the start of a military withdrawal from Iraq.
| I wonder how thumping Iran fits into those plans... |
| If the troops start withdrawing in an easterly direction we'll have our answer... |
Those close to the administration said the White House envisions the start of a troop pullout in late 2005. They said the administration would begin discussions on the feasibility of a significant reduction in U.S. troops following Iraqi national elections, scheduled on Jan. 30, 2005. "I think elections in Iraq are going to be one more step on the path towards a stable and secure and a democratic Iraq," Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Nov. 23. "It won't be the final step, but it will allow us to start then looking at, if events dictate, how we can rearrange ourselves, the coalition, and Iraqi forces, for that matter." The administration has been quietly urged to consider a withdrawal of the more than 140,000 troops as a priority for the second Bush term. These advocates have included Defense Department officials and consultants who supported the war to topple the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003, but who have concluded that the U.S. military presence in Iraq has become counterproductive.
Posted by: Fred 2004-11-30 |
