Quote :

"Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld hinted Thursday that the U.S. military will soon begin reducing its troop strength in Iraq below 138,000, the level it has considered its core force in the country for most of this year. On an unannounced holiday visit to the Iraqi capital, Rumsfeld hinted a preliminary decision had been made to achieve the modest reduction by canceling the scheduled deployment of two Army brigades. ADVERTISEMENT The cancellation of the deployments would gradually decrease the number of troops in Iraq by 6,000 to 7,000, said a Defense Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity because an announcement was not yet final. The official said that would bring the troop level in the country to a little above 130,000 sometime next spring, "

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/12/22/D8ELE9MO0.html

i guess it's only a timetable, and only "emboldens the terrorists," if we set a time for complete withdrawal? Not if we just set one for partial withdrawal. As long as we let one soldier stay there, then, and set a timetable for everyone else to leave, that's ok.

12/22/2005 3:27:56 PM

do you really love lamp, or are you just saying that because you saw it?

12/22/2005 3:28:53 PM

so whenever they announce that troop presence will decrease, we have to hear somebody bitch about timetables?

12/22/2005 3:36:15 PM

fuck it, it's a decrease

they can't use the term timetable because then they become flip-floppers or whatever

12/24/2005 9:46:54 PM

OMG FLIP FLOP!

12/24/2005 9:51:14 PM

Quote :

"so whenever they announce that troop presence will decrease, we have to hear somebody bitch about timetables?"

you bet your sweet bippy

12/24/2005 10:00:07 PM

I think when they refer to timetables, they mean a fixed, overall schedule for withdrawling all United States forces from Iraq. What they're doing now is simply announcing a reduction in troop levels, not spelling out their grand plans for pulling everyone home. Afterall, the removal of two brigades, while significant, isn't exactly a huge change.

The administration can simply say that they've achieved some milestone in Iraq (trained x numbers of Iraqi battalions, successful elections, etc.) and that they no longer require that many. It follows the line that they've been using, that the number of American forces in Iraq will be determined by the situation on the ground, not some fixed calendar.

12/24/2005 10:43:58 PM

^
Stop fucking up this thread with logic

This was a flip-flop by Rummie, W is evil, etc etc etc. Basically --

Quote :

"TGD: OMF FLIP-FLOP!!1"

12/25/2005 11:25:33 AM

Quote :

"I think when they refer to timetables, they mean a fixed, overall schedule for withdrawling all United States forces from Iraq."

thats not the definition the administration has been using

12/25/2005 6:25:17 PM

"Ok guys, we're gonna bring home a unit Thursday..."

OMFG, Timetable!

12/25/2005 6:49:39 PM

God, do you people even know what a timetable is?

12/26/2005 7:26:07 PM

i don't get it

-johnhgoth

12/26/2005 7:29:17 PM

Quote :

"The administration can simply say that they've achieved some milestone in Iraq (trained x numbers of Iraqi battalions, successful elections, etc.) and that they no longer require that many. It follows the line that they've been using, that the number of American forces in Iraq will be determined by the situation on the ground, not some fixed calendar."

See, you'd think that this term would be common sense to most people, but judging by this thread it's not. I shudder for the work force...

12/26/2005 7:55:04 PM

wow you liberals are really grasping at straws here

12/26/2005 9:29:11 PM