Suppose that $\ell$ is prime bigger than 3, and suppose that $k$ is a
field of characteristic not $\ell$ which has only $\ell$-primary
algebraic extensions and has Galois cohomological dimension one with
respect to $\ell$-torsion sheaves.
It is shown that the Lichtenbaum-Quillen conjecture is true for $k$ if
and only if all even Postnikov sections $P_{2n}K/\ell$ of the mod
$\ell$ K-theory spectrum $K/\ell$ satisfy descent with respect to
Galois groups isomorphic to the group $\Bbb{Z}_{\ell}$ of $\ell$-adic
integers. This result is proved in two ways: the first uses the lower
central series for a finitely generated free pro $\ell$-group, while
the second arises by first proving that the Lichtenbaum-Quillen
conjecture for $k$ is equivalent to a finite descent property for all
$P_{2n}K/\ell$.
This paper has been removed from these archives because it has appeared in
Proceedings, Conference on Algebraic K-theory, Poznan, 1995, Contemporary
Math. 199 (1996), 125-138.