Iraq withdrawal plans

via Westhawk, plans from DoD to reduce the number of brigades in Iraq by half next year. The Washington Post reports the plan is to drop from 150,000 deployed troops to under 100,000 by the end of 2006. I think this is very good news, since maintaining the current rotation has put a lot of strain on the Army, especially on the Reserves, and a smaller force will be much more sustainable. I'm also sympathetic to the argument that the Iraqi security forces won't have an incentive to "stand up" until they begin seeing the U.S. starting to "stand down." There's also something to the idea that the more nationalist insurgents will be more open to joining the political process when they see signs that the Coalition is serious about not occupying Iraq forever, and reducing force levels is a necessary condition of making that happen.

Politically, Don Sensing at Winds of Change speculates the recent rumblings by Rep. Murtha and others to bring the troops home is an attempt to take credit for plans which have already been put into motion.