The Pentagon hard-liners think this attitude underestimates the Iraqi people and note that some former Soviet-bloc countries made the transition in a matter of months.

CNN: Clash of the administration titans

Poland, Hungary and other members from the former Soviet bloc - set to benefit most from the spending plans - are opposed to any cuts.

BBC: David Cameron and Herman van Rompuy in Downing Street

Baker arrived in Tallahassee the morning after the election and was joined by two longtime aides, Margaret Tutwiler and Robert Zoellick, a plug-in rescue squad that had seen action in such events as the 1987 stock-market crash, the fall of the Soviet bloc and the Gulf War.

CNN: Franchise Player