Left I on the News

Last October I wrote a post with the above title. Now, buried in an article about a phony (and probably not to be implemented) whopping $0.2 billion (the article says $200 million to make it sound bigger) "cut" in a proposed $106 billion "supplemental" spending bill for the war, we find that the military is thinking along the same lines:

U.S. military officials in Iraq say improvements to bases are necessary because the U.S. is likely to have troops in Iraq and Afghanistan for years, albeit in smaller numbers than the 135,000 that are there now. They point out that 50 years after the Korean War, the United States maintains around 30,000 troops on Korean bases as a hedge against renewed hostilities.

For the record, as I wrote back in October, it's 55 years after U.S. troops entered Korea, not 50, and, at least as of last October, there were 37,000 American troops there, not "around 30,000." And, also for the record if you don't go read that entire old post, I'll note that Donald Rumsfeld and U.S. commanders in Korea were talking about the "growing capability" of the Korean troops and how that is going to (in the future, always the future) reduce the need for as many American troops there.

I'll close with the same close from that post:

Here's my exit strategy for Iraq (and Korea, for that matter): "As the American people stand up (and say NO! to the occupation), American forces will be stood down." Stand up, America! Just say NO!