US military likely to be in Iraq for years after drawdown « Thread Started on Sept 14, 2007, 9:18pm » --------------------------------------------------------------------------------US military likely to be in Iraq for years after drawdown read at source> http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hLM ... WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US military will be tied down in Iraq with 100,000 troops at least through the presidency of George W. Bush, and a modest size residual force will be there for years to come.And that is a best-case scenario, as articulated by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Friday after Bush announced plans for more modest troop cuts by mid-July."One of the sad aspects of war is there is no script," Gates told reporters. "That history hasn't been written yet. And the enemy has a vote.""I can tell you what my hope is. My hope is that the situation continues to develop, as it has, for the last several months, as we anticipate it will for the next several months, though the end of the year."If it does, he said, US force levels would go down to about 100,000 troops, or from 20 combat brigades to 10, by the time a new president takes office in January 2009.