Coming Home

[Dr. Shane]

The US is expected to pull significant numbers of troops out of Iraq in the next 12 months

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />

He said: “We believe at some point, in order to break this dependence on the . . . coalition, you simply have to back off and let the Iraqis step forward.

“You have to undercut the perception of occupation in Iraq. It's very difficult to do that when you have 150,000-plus, largely western, foreign troops occupying the country.”

While he cautioned that any troop reduction would be conditional on continued political progress and ongoing improvement in Iraqi force training, he said Centcom planners believed “the political process will play out, that we will see a constitution, that we will see, by some political machinations, the Sunnis brought into the process and we will proceed to national elections in December”.

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

[cricket]

[]http://www.americanrotary.com/assets/images/waving_flag_-_enlarged_2.jpg[/]