I was hopeful with a headline like this:
Bush to announce withdrawal of troops, official says
[...]Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in the country, told Congress this week he could see troop numbers sliding by 30,000 — which would reduce the number of troops to pre-surge levels — by July 2008.
Administration officials did not specifically say the president would use the 30,000 figure — but one said he would “make clear there are challenges ahead in Iraq, but also enough progress” to reduce troop levels.[...]
A bit of a let down. While this is being spun, even by the ?liberal? media, as some great progress, I can hardly get myself excited over it. We are in the 5th year of a war we were told would “last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.” Can I be blamed if I don’t see the great progress in being told that, at some point in the 6th year of this ’six day war,’ we might, only might, be able to reduce troop numbers down only to the point where they were a few months ago.
We’re in Year 5. Saying we hope that just maybe Year 6 will look more like Year 4 isn’t progress.
Update: Meanwhile, Iraqis are still living in fear, actually worse than prior to the surge.