We Won't Be Back Till It's Over Over There

The administration has announced plans for a gradual reduction of forces in Iraq.

AP reports:

WASHINGTON — As security conditions improve in Iraq, the U.S. should be able to reduce forces at a slow but consistent pace beyond this summer, but air support and ground troops likely will be needed for five to 10 years, a top military commander said Thursday.

Army Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the No. 2 commander in Iraq, also said he believes Iraqi forces will be able to take over security in their country much quicker than they have suggested.

"What we don't want to do is suddenly pull out a whole bunch of U.S. forces and suddenly turn things over to ... the Iraqi security forces," said Odierno, who will finish his tour in Iraq next month and return to Fort Hood, Texas.

"I would like to see it done very slowly over time. And I think if we do that, we'll find ourselves being more successful and we'll be able to have a consistent reduction of our forces over time."

Read the whole thing here.

Don Surber notes that there won't be any victory parades and writes:

The sad thing is, few people in the United States care anymore.

We sent the troops in with 80%-plus approval of the war. Then things didn’t go perfect. People abandoned the war and the troops.

Pretty sad showing for the American people.

Read him here.