Now We Understand All the Draft Rumors

via political animal:

Current Iraq Troop Levels to Be Maintained Until End of 2005

Iraq probably will continue to be unstable and violent for more than a year, U.S. commanders said Tuesday in announcing plans to keep the current level of 135,000 American troops there through the end of next year.

The decision acknowledges Iraq is much more dangerous than generals had hoped earlier this year, when they planned to cut the number of occupying troops to about 115,000.

Since then, violence by Sunni and Shiite Muslim extremists has surged, making April the deadliest month for American troops since the March 2003 invasion. Several U.S. allies also have decided to pull their forces out, most notably Spain, which had about 2,300 troops in one of the most volatile areas of south-central Iraq.