I’m out of touch on this boat, so haven’t been able to talk to anyone about this latest British memo furor about a planned significant reduction in our troops in Iraq. But my off-the-cuff reaction is that this isn’t anything shocking. We are planning to get out of Iraq . . . as soon as the Iraqis are capabale of keeping reasonable order, which is beginning to be the case in certain parts of the country (especially where the Brits have been in the south). My understanding is that it is a conditions-based strategy, not one pegged to certain dates. But it shouldn’t be surprising that we are talking about when we can begin reductions. One of the tricky things here is the transition. We could probably use MORE troops in Iraq at the moment, but does that interfere with the process of Iraqis taking over? When are things in decent enough shape that the Iraqis can handle it? These are questions that the administration has been and will be wrestling with.