General: Don't cut troops in Iraq

Gen. John P. Abizaid, head U.S. military man for the Middle East told the Senate yesterday it would not be a good idea to start pulling troops out of Iraq.

Exerpt from the NY Times:

General Abizaid did not rule out a larger troop increase, but he said the American military was stretched too thin to make such a step possible over the long term. And he said such an expansion might dissuade the Iraqis from making more of an effort to provide for their own security.

“We can put in 20,000 more Americans tomorrow and achieve a temporary effect,” he said. “But when you look at the overall American force pool that’s available out there, the ability to sustain that commitment is simply not something that we have right now with the size of the Army and the Marine Corps.”