And the status force agreement was just an absolute table stakes. Part of that, the administration apparently wanted no part of that. Maliki understood that Our generals were recommending a minimum troop level somewhere between 20 and 23,000. When the administration came in to negotiate the status of force agreement, they basically laid 10,000 on the table and then continued to ratchet the number of downs they were … (26:45–26:50)
CLAIM
Asserts that U.S. generals recommended maintaining 20,000 to 23,000 troops in Iraq.
This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.
