Baghdad
The Pentagon has a secret plan to start pulling American forces out of Iraq next year, Newsweek reported this week. The U.S. would cut its troop strength from 138,000 soldiers to about 80,000 by next summer, and to between 40,000 and 60,000 by the end of 2006. Gen. George Casey, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, has said that the U.S. could “take some fairly substantial reductions,” provided Iraqi leaders meet the goals of adopting a new constitution and electing a permanent government by Dec. 15. A British government memo leaked in July said the Bush administration believes it can transfer security duties to Iraqi forces in 14 of the country’s 18 provinces by early 2006.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Nnela Kalu’s historic Turner Prize winTalking Point Glasgow-born artist is first person with a learning disability to win Britain’s biggest art prize
-
Bridget Riley: Learning to See – an ‘invigorating and magical ensemble’The Week Recommends The English artist’s striking paintings turn ‘concentration into reverie’
-
‘Stakeknife’: MI5’s man inside the IRAThe Explainer Freddie Scappaticci, implicated in 14 murders and 15 abductions during the Troubles, ‘probably cost more lives than he saved’, investigation claims
