1% a month:In the
news:
Bush said that 5,700 U.S. forces would be home by Christmas and that four brigades - for a total of at least 21,500 troops - would return by July, along with an undetermined number of support forces. Now at its highest level of the war, the U.S. troop strength stands at 168,000.
5,700 / 168,000 = 3.3% in 3 months.
21,500 / 168,000 = 12.8% in 10 months.
Basically, we're talking one percent a month. If that holds, it will take 100 months at the "Bush rate" to get all the troops out. 100 months is, in case you were wondering, a little more than 8 years.
posted by Quiddity at 9/13/2007 07:08:00 PM
I was just about to run those numbers -- thanks! (Shocking, isn't it?)
You deceitful liberals! The proposed drawdown of troops proposed is actually a gradual increas in the percentage withdrawn. Come on, it's simple math...
5700 troops / 3 months = 1990 troop per month.
1st month 1900 / 168,000 = 1.13%
2nd month 1900 / 166,100 = 1.14%
3rd month 1900 / 164,200 = 1.16%
Then 21500-5700 = 15800 troops / 7 months = 2257 troops per month
4th month 2257 / 162,300 = 1.39%
5th month 2257 / 160,043 = 1.41%
.
.
.
10th month 2257 / 148757 = 1.51%
That's a 33% increase in the rate of percentage of troops withdrawn over 10 months!
How can you possibly say that is not progress or an accelerating withdrawal?
