Some good news.


US may reduce forces in Iraq by spring

By PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer
4 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - The U.S. may be able to reduce combat forces in Iraq by next spring if Iraq's own security forces continue to grow and improve, a senior American commander said Friday. He denied reports the U.S. is arming Sunni insurgent groups to help in the fight against al-Qaida.

Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the top day-to-day commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, did not predict any reductions in U.S. forces but said such redeployments may be feasible by spring. There are currently 156,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon from his headquarters outside Baghdad, Odierno gave an update on the U.S. offensives under way in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad and in areas south and west of the capital. He said U.S. and Iraqi troops have made important progress.

"I think if everything goes the way it's going now, there's a potential that by the spring we will be able to reduce forces, and Iraq security forces could take over," Odierno said. "It could happen sooner than that. I don't know."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070623/..._pe/us_iraq_27

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"This is a time for a national imperative not to fail in Iraq." Condoleeza Rice, January 11, 2007

This means nothing.

"may"

maybe...maybe not

"WASHINGTON The top U.S. commander in Iraq said Sunday, a day before U.S.-Iraqi strategy consultations that follow the killing of a Qaeda leader, that coalition forces could be gradually reduced this year if the new Iraqi government made steady progress and the Iraqi Army gained in self-sufficiency.

But the commander, General George Casey, did not go as far as an Iraqi security official who said that the number of American troops there could fall this year from the present 130,000 to perhaps 100,00..."

The date? June 11, 2006

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The insurgency in Iraq is "in the last throes," Vice President Dick Cheney says, and he predicts that the fighting will end before the Bush administration leaves office...The vice president said he expected the war would end during President Bush's second term, which ends in 2009."

The date? June 20, 2005

"WASHINGTON, April 10 - Two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the American-led military campaign in Iraq is making enough progress in fighting insurgents and training Iraqi security forces to allow the Pentagon to plan for significant troop reductions by early next year, senior commanders and Pentagon officials say."

The date? April 10, 2005

"AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq – The United States may be able to reduce its troop level in Iraq after the January election if security is strengthened and Iraqi government forces continue to expand and improve, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday during an unannounced whirlwind tour of Iraq. "

The date? October 11, 2004

"(The war) could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months."
-Donald Rumsfeld March 7, 2003.

"I think it will go relatively quickly, . . . (in) weeks rather than months."
-Dick Cheney March 13, 2003.

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"To announce that..we are to stand by the president whether right or wrong..is morally treasonable to the American public." -- Theodore Roosevelt, 1918

Ahhh.......look at all the naysayers coming out of the woodwork. Just can't stand a bit of positive news coming out of Iraq, eh?

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"This is a time for a national imperative not to fail in Iraq." Condoleeza Rice, January 11, 2007

Oh, I see the problem now. You consider this "news." Most people would consider repeating the same thing over and over, year after year, with no discernible link to reality to be "propaganda." But since the Bush administration cannot distinguish between the two, I can see why you would have the same problem.

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"To announce that..we are to stand by the president whether right or wrong..is morally treasonable to the American public." -- Theodore Roosevelt, 1918

News to adults at least.

Been good news from Iraq in many regards.

Progress in Iraq has been pretty steady this last year..violence is down.. Iraqis are taking more and more of a role..al Anbar has significantly improved..

This is not news, this is a prediction nothing more.

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YOU DONT KNOW I ROCK?
WHAT YOU UNDER A ROCK?
WHAT YOU UNDER A ROCK?

Please tell us what the steady progress has been.

How many American soldiers have died this year?

How many Iraqis have died this year?

Are you sure you are not Pres. Bush hiding in disguise.

Peace.

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E.Pluribus Unum

People of power have NO good will and people of good will have NO power.

If you think Education is Expensive try Ignorance.

There was a boy who was told to look after the sheep.. He was told that if he saw a wolf to cry "Wolf Wolf" and people would come running.....

Or maybe, 'Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again'

It would be nice if it really did happen.. But I hope you don't consider this a "plan". Because a "plan" has actual timetable for when Iraqi troops would be trained. How many would be operational. Then where they would be deployed. And an expected date for when US troops would be able to be withdrawn. Sure, sometimes plans change, but you actually have to have a plan before you can claim you plan changed.

All this quote really tells me is that this "top day to day commander" is working without any plan, just a bunch of "gee, I hope"...

you are delusinal. there is no merit to what that general said.