Sunday, January 29, 2006
US General says Troops in Iraq Cut by 20% over past 2 Months
General John Abizaid, Commander of the US Central Command, told a daily newspaper in Kuwait that the US had reduced its troop deployment in Iraq by 15-20% over the past two months. And he indicates that this is just the beginning, that increases in the Iraqi military and their ability to police their own area will allow the US to reduce troops in the tumultuous country.
"I would expect that they will continue to come down, but only based on the degree of stability that is achieved there. You won’t see a rapid withdrawal of American forces. You will see American forces starting to come down as Iraqi forces start to come up, but if there is a spike in the security situation that would send Iraq in a bad direction, we are also willing to put in additional forces. So, well judge it," he said.
This is a great start, but it’s only a start. We have 140,000 troops in Iraq today, and we’ve lost over 2,300 American soldiers to date. While I understand the reasoning behind a gradual withdrawal, we need to get out of the country as soon as possible, before our situation there gets worse, and so the rest of the region does not see us as spread out and weak. So my applause, President Bush, for the returning soldiers, but let’s keep the trend going.
Posted by Scottage at 1:24 AM /
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