British Memo: U.S. Hopes to Cut Force in Iraq in Half by Early 2006

the united states and britain are drawing up plans to withdraw the majority of their troops from iraq by the middle of next year, according to a secret memo written for british prime minister tony blair by defense secretary john reid. the paper, which is marked "secret -- uk eyes only," said "emerging us plans assume that 14 out of 18 provinces could be handed over to iraqi control by early 2006," allowing a reduction in overall u.s.-led forces in iraq to 66,000 troops. the current troop level is about 160,000. reid on sunday did not dispute the authenticity of the document, but said that no decision on troop levels had been made. in washington, a pentagon spokesman said officials there had not seen the document. the undated memo, which was reported sunday in the newspaper the mail on ...