number of troops in iraq continues to decline

* cnn just did a very weird segment:

'the number of troops in iraq continues to decline - in march 03 there were 260k, in november 2005 there were 190k for the elections(!), and troops continue to be withdrawn and are now down to 144k'

- that is so dishonest i really don't know what to say - but congratulations to the .mil spin machine (or was it for the GOP?) for getting that broadcast.

* armytimes:

"The active Army and Army National Guard exceeded their recruiting goals in October, kicking off the new fiscal year on the high note, while the Army Reserve fell short by about 6 percent.

Active Army recruiters brought 5,560 soldiers into the service, 108 percent of its goal of 5,150, according to the Defense Department. The Army’s annual recruiting goal is 80,000, the same as it was last year."

* PrissyPatriot:

"Prissy is in DC this week and will be blogging about our military active duty soldier's Petition for Redress "

Go Prissy! Give em hell! Prissy will be posting pics tomorrow.

* arkin:

"The ultimate lesson of the Rumsfeld doctrine is that technology and firepower can not substitute for people. And yet the dominant pro-military and muscle-bound Democrat impulse -- to imagine that more troops, more people and overwhelming force, can still salvage an Iraqi effort -- is also wrong. Throwing resources at Iraq ignores that the country is beyond the tipping point and outside of our ability to influence how it will go (other than to get out and get out of the way).
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Beware also the shift from conventional military to the CIA and the "special" operators that will certainly happen as the war in Iraq winds down and as the national security establishment retools for round two of the war against terrorism. How is it that we continue to see these pretenders as the savior and the alternative when even in sectors where they are primarily responsible, such as in the hunt for Osama bin Laden along the Pakistan-Afghanistan divide, they have so miserably failed?
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Let's get one thing clear about Robert Gates as secretary of defense: He is not going to change anything, reverse any program, abandon any plan or stake out any new territory. With barely two years to work, giving how long it will take to get settled in and the dead zone that will come as the 2008 election looms, his mission is singular: It is Iraq, stupid.

Gates has a mission to work with Congress to craft an exit strategy for Iraq. Along the way, he must restore civil-military relations, improve the Defense Department's relations with the rest of the government, and reach out to the American public to build support for the new Iraq plan."

* The Day is reporting on the close Courtney/Simmons race in CT (thnx Kath). I wonder when we'll have a final tally across the country...