Gates said he could see troops withdrawn by 08

The new nominee for Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, former president of Texas A&M said last year that he could see the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq by 2008.
According to the Candadian National Post, Gates discussed just such a scenario 18 months ago during a seminar at the Panetta Institute at California State University in Monterey.
During a round-table discussion with Leon Panetta, chief of staff to former President Bill Clinton, and Sandy Berger, former national security advisor, Mr. Gates expressed his hope for a relatively rapid withdrawal of U.S. troops.

"We all hope that it will be quick," he said. "That in a year or two, this government in Iraq will be secure enough that they will be able to invite us to leave and we can do so, leaving behind us a government that can survive and that will be very different from what preceded it."