Guys: The Times report confuses — like most of the rest of the media — a drawdown with a pullout. The military has always said that it would reduce the size of our force there after the election this week. The senior commanders I spoke with in Iraq said that we may indeed draw down to a force of about 90,000 by the end of next year. If the events allow it, that’s what we’ll do. Our strategy is event-driven, not media-driven. There is no plan — none, zero, zip — to withdraw. The terms are important, and the rhetoric misleading.
