U.S. Ready For Iraq Drawdown After January Elections

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Benjamin Bigelow, center, watches his soldiers create a ford over a river near the Iraq-Iran border, Iraq, Sept. 22, 2009. Bigelow is the commander, 9th Engineer Battalion, Company C. A bridge over the stream had been washed away by recent rains and the ford allows Military Transition Teams to conduct training with Iraqi border guards. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Brien Vorhees

General Lays Out Pace of Iraq Pullout -- New York Times

BAGHDAD — By the end of October, American troop strength in Iraq will be 120,000, a decrease of 23,000 since January, the top United States military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Stephen R. Lanza, said Monday. The next big reduction will not come until well after the national elections in January, he added.

General Lanza referred repeatedly to a “responsible drawdown.” It was his first full-scale news conference since May, when he addressed reporters in advance of Iraqi security forces’ taking the lead in security operations on June 30.

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My Comment: Two parts of this story stuck out for me ....

(1) When the last American contingent leaves, there will still be 50,000 personnel left behind to train the Iraqi Army.

(2) Iraq’s budget provides for security forces totaling 720,000, including 253,002 in the military.

In short, the U.S. will still maintain a large presence in the country, and the Iraqi military/security force that they will be training will be huge .... in fact (after Israel), the Iraqi military and intelligence services will probably be one of the largest in the Middle East.