What a load of crap! Note the dates; Feingold and Kerry were right.

[babylonsister]

they're just going to keep on pushing that September date until the dim one is out of office. Why would Odierno's 3 extra months make such a difference?:grr: :grr:

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/06/01/abc-us-plans-minor-drawdown/


ABC: U.S. plans minor drawdown.

“U.S. officials tell ABC News that the troop levels in Iraq cannot be maintained at the present level, either politically or practically, with the military stretched so thin. But that does not imply an immediate drawdown. Officials tell ABC’s Martha Raddatz the senior commanders in Iraq — Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno and Gen. David Petraeus — want the surge to continue until at least December, and expect to report enough progress by September to justify the extension.”

The drawdown would begin in February 2008, although each of the two generals supports a slightly different plan.

Plan one, which officials say is being pushed by Odierno, calls for a reduction in troops from roughly 150,000 today to 100,000 by December of 2008.

Petraeus champions a slightly different approach that would be to cut the troops down to roughly 130,000 by the end of 2008, with further reductions the following year.

[mike_c]

1. watch the democratic controlled house write another blank check...

...in September. We should start a pool to bet on things like the date they cave, how many rationalizations they produce, etc.

[acmavm]

3. I was just thinking that if they give in to some more of bush** tantrums

and don't frigging start getting really vocal in their opposition, then they're just committing political suicide, both in the big picture of the party and also in the little picture of possibly personal political suicide.

At least, they need to be made familiar with that fact if it's a new concept to 'em. Because the majority of the people in THIS party were just disappointed and disgusted with the Dem's sell out this time around.

[Nite Owl]

2. Weren't there 120,000

before the 'surge'? Are they not just drawing down to pre-surge levels? And what then, will there be a continual drawdown or leave them there forever/or when * leaves whichever is last?

[benddem]

4. we need to really watch this

Cheney, Crumby et al couldn't possibly have not known they were ruining the all volunteer military. I remember during Reagan's administration, some Repug big wigs (I seem to think it was the guy from the asbestos mines in MT...was that WR Grace?) telling us how all these jobs could be done by civilians. We were dumbstruck that he would think you could hire civilian nurses, lab techs etc. to function in a war zone. He was adamant that we were wrong. Civilians were cheaper, they didn't have pensions, 30 day vacations (god how I miss that) and require health care for their families. I assume this was going on in transportation, signal, maintenance, ordinance and other units. I firmly believe that this whole mess is to wreck the military, pentagon. They want mercenaries so their good buddies can make tons of money. I believe this more everyday.

[OHdem10]

5. I still say the troops will be on the way out

well before the elections. The Republican Top Tier will
be in trouble. Rank and file Republicans are getting
restless.

[babylonsister]

6. And I say * won't listen to anyone because he's 'the decider'. nt

[dave_p]

7. 31 March 2010

"with further reductions the following year"

That's 2009, folks. How many Democrat frontrunners will be ready to tell the General 'No, you're out'? Not many, I guess.

March 2010's been hovering round my mind for a while now. And that's under most Democrats. A Kucinich or Gravel would have them out ASAP, but I fear the others would be looking to shore up the shitty Baghdad regime as best as possible.

Of course the GOP would want to spin it out even longer - 2012, maybe? This isn't going to end any time soon unless the funding's stopped, and I don't see that happening given Democrats' fears (misplaced, in my opinion) of a backlash.

The upside is it makes attacking Iran even more problematic for BushCo. The neocons can't even run their own foreign policy when they're handed wverything they asked for.