HILLARY WINS:

U.S. Considers Troop Cuts After Iraq Holds Elections (DAVID S. CLOUD, 11/23/05, NY Times)

The Pentagon is planning to make modest troop reductions after next month's elections in Iraq and, if security conditions improve, could begin reductions next summer that would drop the American force level below 100,000 by late next year, Defense Department officials said Wednesday.

Troop reductions of this magnitude have been discussed by military commanders in the past, and it is not clear to what extent the most recent statements by various officials reflect the pressure on the Bush administration from Congress and even some Iraqi leaders to begin laying out withdrawal options. Officials said that no decisions had been made and that tentative plans for troop cuts could be abandoned if the insurgency gained strength or Iraqi security forces did not progress as quickly as their American trainers hoped.

By gum, they've adopted her Third Way.

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 24, 2005 11:49 AM