is there really any reason whatsoever to believe this for a second?

Petraeus eyes troop drawdown in spring

WASHINGTON - The top U.S. commander in Iraq says he wants to continue the troop buildup there until next spring, amid divisions in the Bush administration over whether to bring some forces home months earlier than that.

When he delivers a much-anticipated report to Congress on Monday, Army Gen. David Petraeus said he expects to advise that there could be a gradual reduction of forces beginning in the spring because of some of the successes achieved so far with the escalation ordered by President Bush in January.

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