He has refused to agree to a timetable for withdrawals, saying reductions in troop levels will be determined by conditions on the ground in Iraq that are impossible to predict in advance.

他拒绝为撤军设定一个时间表。他说，撤军数量将取决于伊拉克的地面局势，但伊拉克的地面局势是无法提前作出估计的。

youdao

And next August, we will begin a transition to Afghan responsibility. The pace of our troop reductions will be determined by conditions on the ground, and our support for Afghanistan will endure.

明年8月，我们将开始向阿富汗转交责任，我们撤军的步调将根据当时当地的情形而定，但我们对阿富汗的支持仍将继续。

youdao

And, of course, the advantage of that is, they'll be so much closer to the action and closer to so much of the ground troop maneuvering that's going on, not just in this area, but further to the north.

CNN: Bob Franken: U.S. forces secure Iraqi airstrip

Mr Romney says he would ask commanders on the ground about troop withdrawals on taking office.

ECONOMIST: Foreign policy

The Clinton Administration does, though, and Washington seems to be creeping up to the ground-troop question only inch by reluctant inch.

CNN: IT'S FLIGHT OR FIGHT