Analysts see no quick drop in U.S. troops in Iraq

[sabra]

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http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2005-07-14-iraq-troops_x.htm

Analysts see no quick drop in U.S. troops in Iraq
By Matt Kelley, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The continuing strength of Iraqi insurgents and slow development of the nation's military make it unlikely that significant numbers of U.S. troops will leave Iraq soon, according to military commanders and analysts.

"If you look at the security situation there right now, it's crazy to ... say we can draw the forces down. It certainly doesn't look that way," said Frederick Kagan, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute think tank, which has strong ties to the Bush administration.

That's despite polls showing waning public support in the USA for the war and a growing chorus in Congress calling for a timetable to pull troops from Iraq. Last week the British Mail on Sunday newspaper published a memo by the British defense minister that said the Pentagon had a proposal to reduce by early next year the number of American and allied troops in Iraq to about 66,000 from the current 176,000.

So far, President Bush has refused to set a timetable, although administration officials want to find a way to reduce troop levels because of the strains on the all-volunteer military, said Daniel Goure, a former Pentagon official now with the conservative Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va. The war and other pressures have the military at a breaking point, he said.

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[Oversea Visitor]

1. Shoo shoooo get out of Iraq

Chimp puff pufff ( Blowing flame of anger bigger and bigger) I got a plan see.... aah plan.... plan.... wait brain leaking..