De befaamde Amerikaanse onderzoeksjournalist Seymour Hersh schrijft in de New Yorker: 'In recent weeks, there has been widespread speculation that President George W. Bush, confronted by diminishing approval ratings and dissent within his own party, will begin pulling American troops out of Iraq next year. The Administration’s best-case scenario is that the parliamentary election scheduled for December 15th will produce a coalition government that will join the Administration in calling for a withdrawal to begin in the spring. By then, the White House hopes, the new government will be capable of handling the insurgency. In a speech on November 19th, Bush repeated the latest Administration catchphrase: “As Iraqis stand up, we will stand down.” He added, “When our commanders on the ground tell me that Iraqi forces can defend their freedom, our troops will come home with the honor they have earned.” One sign of the political pressure on the Administration to prepare for a withdrawal came last week, when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Fox News that the current level of American troops would not have to be maintained “for very much longer,” because the Iraqis were getting better at fighting the insurgency.' Die laatste bewering is op niets gebaseerd want zoals de Amerikaanse media melden: 'A month ago the administration’s line was that cutting and running was the dastardly act of cowards and traitors who would abandon our troops and all they have fought for. A month ago senior US commanders in Iraq said that the US-trained new Iraqi army only had 700 troops who could operate independently of US support.' Zie: http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/051205fa_fact of http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1128-04.htm Nu het kabinet Balkenende nog. Eens kijken hoelang de Nederlandse speciale eenheden in die regio blijven.
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