U.S. May Begin Troop Withdrawl Soon

U.S. troop levels in Iraq might begin to decline significantly by next summer according to top U.S. commander in Iraq General David Petraeus. Speaking to a small group of reporters on Wednesday Petraes stated that he believes that the U.S. footprint on Iraqi soil would have to be "A good bit smaller" by next summer, indicating that he believes that real progress is being made on the ground. Though, he cautions, that attacks such as the one Tuesday that killed at least 250 Yazidi's perfect examples of why a U.S. withdrawl could not be too percipitous.

    Over 3600 U.S. servicemen have been killed in action and over 20,000 wounded since the onset of hostilities in 2003. There has been growing pressure from elected officials, in the face of public dis-satisfaction, to begin troop withdrawls, though poll data suggests that 92% of Americans are indeed against a hasty withdrawl. Recent progress from the General Petraeus spearheaded "Surge" has shifted more public opinion toward concluding combat operations victoriously rather than percipitously, and a recent vote to remove troops from the theatre of war was vetoed by President Bush without  congress garnering enough votes to override the veto.