Right…..and I’m gonna be crowned Miss Universe! It could happen!!! Gimme a friggin break. How many times have we heard this shit before? If……if…….if…….if.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday that the United States could start withdrawing troops from Iraq later this year – “if circumstances on the ground permit.”

Gates made the remark in answer to questioning from Sen. Robert Byrd, D-West Virginia, during a hearing before the Senate Committee on Armed Services.

Gates was asked how much longer troops would remain deployed in Iraq before the United States begins to draw them down.

“It’s hard to make any kind of a real prediction, especially where our adversaries have a vote,” Gates said.

However, he said, “I would hope we would be able to begin drawing down our troops later this year” — if a “plan to quiet Baghdad is successful,” Iraqis accept “their responsibilities” and assume “leadership,” and they also carry out “political reconciliation.”

The hearings were briefly disrupted by protesters from Code Pink, a group that opposes the Iraq war.

Read more at CNN.com