I'm lifting this from a post I made over at CalPundit, but it bears observing that not just Paul Bremer, but General Abizaid seems to have gotten summoned and sent back to the Middle East in a flurry.
Here's the chronology, as near as I can tell:
First, the CIA issues a report, endorsed by Bremer, which puts the number of insurgents at 50,000. Bremer is summoned home for Tuesday and Wednesday, which happens to give the 50,000 a fair amount of press.
Then, on Thursday, General Abizaid returns home. (Incidentally, Bush happens to be in the same state as him, but as far as I know they're in different cities, Orlando and Tampa.) While home Abizaid gives a press conference where he floats the 5,000 number, which promptly gets very wide play (Pentagon PR flacks working overtime, there).
When he arrives, it sounds like he may be stateside for a while. Or wandering around aimlessly:
There is no date set for Abizaid to return to Central Command's area of operations. MacDill administrators say it is likely that he will remain on the move.
But then, all of a sudden, he is heading back to the Middle East, apparently to re-establish his office in Qatar:
The American general leading military efforts in Iraq will reestablish his headquarters in the region, reflecting what he described on Thursday as "a sense of urgency" in the face of increasing attacks on U.S. and allied troops there.
[snip]
Abizaid was scheduled to travel next week to Qatar, along with some aides, to reestablish his base of operations there, a senior defense official said. The move places the general closer to Iraq as well as Afghanistan, where he is responsible for U.S. military operations.
I don't know what to make of this (except to note that we don't be seem to be getting 21-advance purchase prices on any of these flights). Except that, for a man who said there are only 5,000 insurgents, Abizaid sure seems to have gotten worried very quickly.