"We could have less troops in Iraq; we could have the same number of troops in Iraq; we could have more troops in Iraq," Mr. Bush said, adding that the number would be whatever is "necessary to secure Iraq".
But all this has been achieved with less troops than are really needed and I am concerned that Nato nations will assume the same level of risk in 2007 believing they can get away with it.
"If we can continue to do what we are doing, we'll get to such a level where we think we can do it with less troops," he added.
This is because 1) CBO scores future budget choices against current spending adjusted for inflation and 2) as troops are drawn down to lower levels, even under the Pentagon's plans, this will cost less money than in the past because less troops cost less than more troops: 10,000 troops in Iraq cost much less than 46,000 troops, and 25,000 troops in Afghanistan cost much less than 100,000 troops.
*On Drones and Leaks: More Tech, Less troops?. Mary agrees with the expanding use of drone strikes against al Qaeda (Bush 49 times, Obama 250 as of the Spring) but thinks that specific targets should be left to the Pentagon not the President.
As Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari seeks to rally his Neymar-less troops for Tuesday's semi-final against Germany, there is one moment that he surely must be reviewing and relishing - Brazil's final goal in the 4-1 win over Cameroon.
Then from left to right, less one troop in reserve, the rest of the regiment positioned itself from left to right, followed by the West Indies company, then the Canterbury Mounted Rifles squadron on the right.
M-113 armoured personnel carriers from A Squadron, 3 CAV (less one troop)—under the command of Major John Keldie arrived at Coral the same day, after escorting the rear echelons and 155 mm M109 self-propelled artillery from A Battery, US 2/35th Artillery Regiment.
But the rotation also poses new risks as American officials say they fully expect guerrillas to try to exploit the transition to new, less experienced troops.
It was an old academic, deskbound exercise, in case of a possible war with France, which specified almost nothing in practical terms, much less dressed troops and routed trains.
