IRAQ

Telegraph: US army chiefs plan 'strategic exit' from Iraq

United States commanders in Iraq have drawn up detailed proposals for a
rapid reduction of troop numbers over the next 18 months in the first
indication of formal planning for an exit strategy. The plans, which
have been put to Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, but not yet
approved by him, suggest reducing the American forces from 130,000 to about 100,000
by next summer.

Commanders told the Washington Post the aim was to show they could
reduce the force without compromising Iraq's stability, leaving fewer then
50,000 US troops by mid-2005. The timetable would be attractive to the White
House in the countdown to next year's election, but it may yet prove
unrealistic given the instability in post-Saddam Iraq.