The U.S. military is likely to maintain and may even increase its force of more than 140,000 troops in Iraq through next spring, the top American commander in the region said Tuesday in one of the gloomiest assessments yet of when troops may come home.
Back in the spring, it still seemed as if we could be down to 100,000 troops by the end of this year with our combat brigades down to perhaps seven. Instead we are talking sixteen or seventeen brigades until the spring.
The good news is that the decision to reverse course on withdrawal and increase strength for the time being shows that the talk of the last couple years that this President would pull out for political reasons is just hooey.
We are in this to win and we will win it. Unfortunately, the Iraqis aren't up to taking over from us quite yet. They will be. But not quite yet. And until we can push them forward, we will fight our enemies and kill them where they stand.
