General Petraeus, in testimony today before the Senate Armed Services Committee, suggested that he will be able to recommend further troop reductions in the September time frame:
This would seem to further reduce the likelihood of Iraq becoming a major issue in the fall campaign. The Iraqi government will take over full responsibility for security by the end of the year. And given the sensitivity of the issue, it’s hard to imagine Petraeus entertaining lightly the idea of reducing troop levels unless he was convinced that such reductions were feasible without badly damaging the progress that has been made in the last year. If Iraq is largely stable and U.S. troops are out largely of harm’s way, would a President Obama remain committed to the idea of withdrawing our forces to another spot in the Middle East?
