As They Stand Up, We'll Stand Down

Remember that mantra of Bush's?  I'm sure, if you watched the television news, you heard them repeat it, too.  It was, like so many other Bush predictions about Iraq, not what happened.

Do Iraqi troops count?  I know I am supposed to say "Don't Forget Poland," which means Polish troops count, but do Iraqi?  Well, if their standing up lets us stand down then, I guess, they must.  Maybe not 1-to-1, but maybe 100 to 1?  Iraq has added over 400,000 Soldiers, National Guard and Police, but America still has about as many troops as the day we entered Baghdad.  It also makes the October, 2006 call by McCain for 20,000 troops look even more silly.

If we count Iraqi Troops, McCain's proposal amounts to less than one half of one percent of the combined troop totals when he made the proposal, in late October, 2006.  By the way, in the graphs below all the lines are, when pixel length choices are being made, changed in favor of John McCain.