Standing Down When They Stand Up

Looks like the Whitehouse beat reporters are really on fire today. Have a look at this fantastic question, which I have been pointing out for a good long while:

Q But, Tony, you say all the time, "stand up; stand down." There are now 270,000 Iraqi troops, and there's been no draw-down. There are 147,000 American troops over there now.

MR. SNOW: That's right.

Q Which is equal to how many there were a year ago when you sent them up for elections. What does that say about the ability for the American troops to stand down when the Iraqi troops are now numbering 270,000 --

MR. SNOW: Well, what it says is, you continue -- a couple of things have happened, which is, especially in a lot of key areas, you have seen Iraqi forces moving into the fore, where American forces have been before; American troops being moved into support missions. A lot of times, the numbers can be deceptive. You also have to look at the mix of forces, whether you've got people doing combat or support roles or logistics or whatever. Ultimately, again, all I can do is repeat -- what it says is, you still have people who are determined to have this Iraqi government fail, and we're not going to let it.