British Troops In Iraq Might Start Withdrawing Soon

It is being reported tonight that Prime Minister Tony Blair will be making a statement at the Commons Wednesday about a possible withdrawal of some of the British troops serving in Iraq. I for one see this as a gotcha story that is not reporting anything new. But... the MSM is going to make as big a deal out of it as they possibly can. So this post will be updated Wednesday after Mr. Blair has his say...
AubreyJ.........

For now thought...
>>> Sky.com has this report...
British Troops Out Of Iraq
>>> BBC News has this take...
Blair 'to confirm Iraq timetable'

Update: Wednesday, February 21, 2007
>>> Guardian Unlimited reports today...
... President George W. Bush views the plan to cut British forces to about 5,000 by the end of the summer as a sign of success, according to a US National Security Council spokesman, Gordon Johndroe... Vice president Dick Cheney, on a visit to Japan, endorsed that view...
Read the rest of the story at link below...
Bush hails UK pullout as 'sign of success'
>>> DoD has this take, which goes in part like this... Over time and depending on the progress of Iraqi security forces, Britain will be able to draw down further, possibly to below 5,000 troops once the base at Basra Palace has been transferred to the Iraqis in late summer, Blair said. “The U.K. military presence will continue into 2008, for as long as we are wanted and have a job to do,” he said. “Increasingly our role will be support and training, and our numbers will be able to reduce accordingly.” At the Pentagon, Bryan Whitman, a Defense Department spokesman, said Blair’s announcement was expected, and that the decrease in British troops has been planned for some months.
Read this story in full at link below...
Blair Announces British Reduction of Forces in Iraq
>>> SMH.com.au has this story in part... Democrats quickly pounced on Blair's announcement as support for their position that a political solution is needed rather than sending more troops into the four-year battle, which has killed 3,148 American soldiers... "At a time when President Bush is asking our troops to shoulder a larger and unsustainable burden policing a civil war, his failed policies have left us increasingly isolated in Iraq and less secure here at home," the Nevada Democrat said...
Read the rest at link below...
US politicians spar over UK troop move