Sites Holmquist trys, and often fails, to go no more than a couple of days without visiting (some of which Holmquist regularly swipes links from without attribution)
From the file of "Things that should surprise nobody"
In a story from yesterday's edition of The Financial Times, Peter Spiegel writes:
The US commander in charge of all forces in Iraq said on Thursday American troops might not be brought home once international peacekeepers are deployed to the war-torn country, a reversal that means 150,000 US soldiers may stay in Iraq indefinitely.
General John Abizaid, the new head of US central command, said foreign troops and indigenous Iraqi forces would gradually take over internal security duties from American soldiers, but added US troops would then be redeployed for a "more aggressive posture on external duties", such as securing borders.
"It depends on the security situation," Gen Abizaid said of the role of foreign peacekeepers. "It doesn't necessarily mean that additional foreign troops would cause a corresponding drawdown of American forces."
The Cencom chief's comments are a clear break from previous Pentagon statements on the status of American deployments. General John Keane, the acting chief of staff of the US army, told a congressional hearing last month that a Polish-led division in southern Iraq would replace 9,000 US marines this fall, and that once another foreign division arrived - the US has contacted India, Pakistan and Turkey about a division-sized force - four brigades, or approximately 20,000 troops, from the US army would be replaced.
