On November 6, 2003, Director of the Coalition Provisional Authority L. Paul “Bremer shared his concerns [with Vice President Dick Cheney] about the deterioration of security [in Iraq]. ‘Mr. Vice President, in my view we do not have a military strategy for victory in Iraq,’ he said. ‘It seems to me that our policy is driven more by our troop rotation schedule than by a strategy to win.’ Bremer said he was particularly concerned about the talk of lowering troop levels and replacing American soldiers with poorly trained Iraqis. ‘The impression may well be growing among the insurgents that we won’t stay the course,’ he warned.”
– Stephen F. Hayes, Cheney, Pages 426-427