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Rumsfeld: Troops in Iraq to be cut
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-23 21:15
Just days after Iraq's elections, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on
Friday announced the first of what is likely to be a series of U.S. combat troop
drawdowns in Iraq in 2006.
Rumsfeld, addressing U.S. troops at this former insurgent stronghold, said
President Bush has authorized new cuts below the 138,000 level that has
prevailed for most of this year.
Rumsfeld did not reveal the exact size of the troop cut, but Pentagon
officials have said it could be as much as 7,000 combat troops. The Pentagon has
not announced a timetable for troop reductions, but indications are that the
force could be cut significantly by the end of 2006.
That could include substantial reductions well before
the November midterm congressional elections, in which Bush's war policies seem
certain to be a major issue.
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