U.S. general to call for Iraq pullbacks

[maseman]

Source: MSNBC/AP

BAGHDAD - The top American commander in Iraq said Wednesday he was preparing recommendations on troop cuts before he returns to Washington next month for a report to Congress, and believes the U.S. footprint in Iraq will have to be “a good bit smaller” by next summer.

But he cautioned against a quick or significant U.S. withdrawal that could surrender “the gains we have fought so hard to achieve.”


Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20273857/

---

Huh? The insurgency is working so well.

[rodeodance]

1. "that by about a year or so from now "

“We know that the surge has to come to an end, there’s no question about that. I think everyone understands that by about a year or so from now we’ve got to be a good bit smaller than we are right now.

[rodeodance]

2. just in the nick of time for the 08 elections Watch Repugs say it was them that

did it!

[rodeodance]

4. ah--buying loyality. yup

Members of the neighborhood volunteer army milled about, U.S.-supplied pistols strapped to their hips and AK-47 automatic rifles at the ready. Petraeus reviewed a short line of the auxiliary force and shook hands with each man.

Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh, who unexpectedly accompanied Petraeus, promised Abed that the neighborhood — now that it was calmer — would receive priority government attention for its crumbling infrastructure.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sanskritwarrior]

10. So saigon

what does your little video have to do with this thread?

I mean a news thread about troop cuts should be a good thing.......what exactly are you implying about the troops? Or are you just saying the troops with the flashbangs are bad? Or are you going to drop the facade and just admit the truth.........

[rodeodance]

5. that Headline overstates the content of the article

[Megahurtz]

6. Re-Deployment?

With their eyeballs on Iran I have a bad feeling about this. x(

[Tab]

7. Petraeus says he will propose troop cuts

Source: Associated Press

By STEVEN R. HURST, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 15 minutes ago

BAGHDAD - The top American commander in Iraq said Wednesday he was preparing recommendations on troop cuts before he returns to Washington next month for a report to Congress, and believes the U.S. footprint in Iraq will have to be "a good bit smaller" by next summer.

But he cautioned against a quick or significant U.S. withdrawal that could surrender "the gains we have fought so hard to achieve."

Gen. David Petraeus said the "horrific and indiscriminate attacks" that killed at least 250 Yazidis, an ancient religious sect, in northwestern Iraq Tuesday night were the work of al-Qaida in Iraq. That would bolster his argument, he said, against too quickly drawing down the 30,000 additional U.S. troops deployed in the first half of the year.

The general issued his comments to a small group of reporters who accompanied him to the headquarters of a group of former Sunni insurgents who are now working with American and Iraqi forces against al-Qaida in western Baghdad's Amariyah neighborhood.
....
Petraeus, who wrote the Army's book on counterinsurgency, said he and his staff were "trying to do the battlefield geometry right now" as he prepared his troop-level recommendations.

"We know that the surge has to come to an end, there's no question about that. I think everyone understands that by about a year or so from now we've got to be a good bit smaller than we are right now.

"The question is how do you do that ... so that you can retain the gains we have fought so hard to achieve and so you can keep going. Again we are not at all satisfied where we are right now. We have made some progress but again there's still a lot of hard work to be done against the different extremist elements that do threaten the new Iraq."


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070815/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_petraeus

[jefferson_dem]

8. Petraeus Says He Will Propose Troop Cuts

Source: AP

Petraeus Says He Will Propose Troop Cuts
STEVEN R. HURST Associated Press Writer
Aug 15, 3:40 PM EDT

BAGHDAD (AP) -- The top American commander in Iraq said Wednesday he was preparing recommendations on troop cuts before he returns to Washington next month for a report to Congress, and believes the U.S. footprint in Iraq will have to be "a good bit smaller" by next summer.

But he cautioned against a quick or significant U.S. withdrawal that could surrender "the gains we have fought so hard to achieve."

Gen. David Petraeus said the "horrific and indiscriminate attacks" that killed at least 250 Yazidis, an ancient religious sect, in northwestern Iraq Tuesday night were the work of al-Qaida in Iraq. That would bolster his argument, he said, against too quickly drawing down the 30,000 additional U.S. troops deployed in the first half of the year.

The general issued his comments to a small group of reporters who accompanied him to the headquarters of a group of former Sunni insurgents who are now working with American and Iraqi forces against al-Qaida in western Baghdad's Amariyah neighborhood.


<SNIP>

Read more: http://www.nwfdailynews.com/articles/IRAQ_PETRAEUS

[badgervan]

9. Misleading Headline

Petraeus plans to withdraw a brigade a month. A brigade is 2 to 3 thousand troops. I believe that we have around 160,000 troops in country. Do the math.

[sanskritwarrior]

11. A brigade is 3500

unless it is a Stryker Brigade then it is 4000.......And if you add in additional support units, removing 1 Combat Brigade of 3500 actually means removing 4500-5000 actual troops........