Reply #20: 50,000?

[gratuitous]

But Rumsfeld said there were 200,000 Iraqi troops all set to defend Iraq. Well, that was before he admitted that only about half of those were really, really trained right. Then he allowed as how, well, fudge, you know how it is, there's really only about 95,000. But they're 95,000 top-notch fightin' Iraqis, ready to do or die for democracy and freedom! Well, once we give them actual weapons that they don't turn around and sell so they can buy food for their families.

And now Allawi says only 50,000? Of course, no one in the media will be so impolite as to notice that the number keeps shrinking. Or that the actual number of trained and fully-equipped Iraqis is a lot closer to zero than it is to one.