NYT: Number of Foreign Forces in Iraq Seen Falling Below 100,000 This Year

[grytpype]

I knew it. Bush is going to cut and run from Iraq this year, no matter what the conditions are in the country, he is gone. All that tough talk about staying the course was 100% bullshit. I'll bet he announces it in his SOTU tomorrow, I won't be watching of course because I can't freaking stand to listen to the guy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/31/international/middleeast/31iraq.html

Number of Foreign Forces in Iraq Seen Falling Below 100,000 This Year

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 30 — The chairman of a high-level group planning the transfer of security responsibilities from American to Iraqi troops said the number of American and other foreign soldiers here would fall to below 100,000 by year's end and that an overwhelming majority would be out in two years.

The statements by Mowaffak al-Rubaie, Iraq's national security adviser and the chairman of a joint Iraqi-American committee planning the transfer, give the strongest indication yet that the Bush administration is preparing to carry out significant reductions in American forces over the current year.

...

By contrast, the working group in Iraq is addressing the delicate question of timing, and Mr. Rubaie asserted strongly in an interview that major reductions were planned. He said that "I believe, according to this conditions-based agreement, that the multinational forces will be reduced" to fewer than 100,000 by the end of the year, adding, "By the end of 2007, the overwhelming majority of the multi-national forces will have left the country."

American officials have said any withdrawal of forces would be contingent on whether there were enough Iraqi military units capable of taking over the fight against the guerrilla insurgency and maintaining order. But Mr. Rubaie, who echoed that when he spoke of a "conditions-based agreement," also made clear that there were detailed plans, now complete, to begin that withdrawal. "It's like an instruction book," he said.

...

Yep, Cut and Run Bush. Murtha was right.

[MidwestTransplant]

1. But but but isn't that just playing into the enemy's hands?

Timelines and such. They will just wait us out now right?

Surely this isn't a domestic political consideration.

[Up2Late]

2. Yep, and will Fox "news" report the true situation? Nooooooooooo!

And as long as "the news" doesn't report it, it's not really happening, right?

<http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=11029982&src=rss/topNews>

Foreign troops in Iraq below 100,000 this year: NYT

Mon Jan 30, 2006 11:49 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of foreign soldiers in Iraq will fall below 100,000 by the end of the year, Iraq's national security adviser told The New York Times in a report posted Monday on the paper's Web site.

Mowaffak al-Rubaie, who is also chairman of a joint-Iraq-American group planning the transfer of security responsibilities to Iraqi troops from American, said the overwhelming majority of foreign troops would be out in two years, The Times said in a report from Baghdad.

The Times said Rubaie's statements offer the strongest indication yet that the Bush administration is preparing to carry out significant reductions in American forces this year.

"I believe, according to this conditions-based agreement, that the multinational forces will be reduced" to fewer than 100,000 by the end of the year, he told The Times. "By the end of 2007, the overwhelming majority of the multinational forces will have left the country," he added.

(more at link below)

<http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=11029982&src=rss/topNews>

[sabra]

3. Iraqi Official Says Foreign Forces Could Fall Below 100,000 This Year

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/31/international/middleeast/31iraq.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Iraqi Official Says Foreign Forces Could Fall Below 100,000 This Year

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 30 — The chairman of a high-level group planning the transfer of security responsibilities from American to Iraqi troops said the number of American and other foreign soldiers here would probably fall to below 100,000 by year's end and that an overwhelming majority could be out in two years.

The statements by Mowaffak al-Rubaie, Iraq's national security adviser and the chairman of a joint Iraqi-American committee planning the transfer, give the strongest indication yet that the Bush administration is preparing to carry out significant reductions in American forces over the current year.

There are now about 160,000 foreign troops in Iraq, about 140,000 of them American. The rest are from Britain, Italy, Poland and a number of other countries.

The planning for a troop withdrawal coincides with a classified assessment being conducted by the Bush administration of what the American presence in Iraq and Afghanistan should look like through the Bush presidency and beyond, envisioning a day when American forces and large-scale American aid are greatly diminished in the two countries.