“U.S. military officials here increasingly envision a ‘post-occupation’ troop presence in Iraq” by cutting down to a mere 50,000 troops.
Let’s look up “occupation” in Websters Dictionary.
3 a : the act or process of taking possession of a place or area
b : the holding and control of an area by a foreign military force
c : the military force occupying a country or the policies carried out by it
This strongly suggests that 50,000 troops would still be an occupation, not a “post-occupation” (whatever that is.) This is just another attempt by the Pentagon to twist the meanings of words to serve their propaganda needs.