Exit strategy

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.

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