Standing up and standing down. Or at least still standing.

Remember all those nice news leaks not so long ago about how we were going to be withdrawing American troops from Iraq soon? Here's another take. From Commanders: Iraqi army can quell serious spike in violence by Gordon Lubold Army Times 02/24/06:

U.S. commanders say the recent spike in violence in Iraq is more than just a "bump in the road," but they have confidence in Iraqi army forces to quell the unrest themselves. They do not rule out increasing U.S. force levels, however, if the Iraqis are unable to stabilize the country. (my emphasis)

Lubold's article quotes Gen. Mark Kimmitt of CENTCOM from a Thursday interview, saying, "This is more than a bump in the road, it's a pothole".

Kimmitt gave the obligatory upbeat assessment that everything will come out all right. Still, he said, "There may be a need for more American forces. We don't think so at this time, but events are going to bear this out," i.e., it depends on the course of events in Iraq. There are currently around 135,000 US troops in Iraq, not counting mercenaries.

I guess the latest predictions of US troop withdrawals are going the way of this one from 2003:

U.S. military commanders have developed a plan to steadily cut back troop levels in Iraq next year, several senior Army officers said in recent interviews.

There are now 130,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. The plan to cut that number is well advanced and has been described in broad outline to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld but has not yet been approved by him. It would begin to draw down forces next spring [2004], cutting the number of troops to fewer than 100,000 by next summer [2004] and then to 50,000 by mid-2005, officers involved in the planning said. (Reduction in U.S. Troops Eyed for '04: Gradual Exit Strategy Tied to Iraq's Stability by Thomas Ricks Washington Post 10/19/03)

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