US "to reduce its forces in Iraq", apparently.

The Bush administration is now actively encouraging the hope that some American troops will pull out of Iraq next year.

Well, that just sets me right at ease. Encouraging the hope. Have to make sure we're optimistic about maybe starting to withdraw next year.

Rumsey had this to say on the subject...

"We've been passing over bases... we've been turning over responsibilities, but by golly the people who've been denigrating the Iraqi security forces are flat wrong."

"They're doing a darned good job and they're doing an increasingly better job every day, every week, every month."

Is it just me, or should senior officials really not be using phrases like "by golly"? It just makes them sound... like someone who should not be holding positions of power. That, and then euphemisms. I hate euphemisms. If you're passionate about a subject, don't degrade it by throwing around pansy words. Change the above to "damn" and look how much more forceful it looks: "They're doing a damned good job and they're doing an increasingly better job every day, every week, every month." OK, so the grammar is still crap, but that's his fault, not mine. Still. Pisses me off. Dubya and his evil Righteous Right. I want a leader that's not afraid to speak his mind. No, Dubya doesn't. If he did, he'd become even more of a laughingstock.

Oh, and finally; this, your moment of Zen:

"...may encourage further the sense that Mr. Bush is now thinking hard about how to begin to leave Iraq."

Ouch. Dubya is thinking. The world is in trouble.

EDIT: There is hope yet. Dubya is "a moron, an idiot or a nefarious bastard." (Taken insanely out of context, which I normally loathe, but hey, it's accurate anyway...)