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| Iraq-Jordan |
| US general sees significant withdrawal in Iraq (here we go again) |
| 2005-08-24 |
| The US is expected to pull significant numbers of troops out of Iraq in the next 12 months in spite of the continuing violence, according to the general responsible for near-term planning in the country. Maj Gen Douglas Lute, director of operations at US Central Command, on Wednesday said the reductions were part of a push by Gen John Abizaid, commander of all US troops in the region, to put the burden of defending Iraq on Iraqi forces. He denied the withdrawal was motivated by political pressure from Washington. He said: âWe believe at some point, in order to break this dependence on the . . . coalition, you simply have to back off and let the Iraqis step forward. âYou have to undercut the perception of occupation in Iraq. It's very difficult to do that when you have 150,000-plus, largely western, foreign troops occupying the country.â While he cautioned that any troop reduction would be conditional on continued political progress and ongoing improvement in Iraqi force training, he said Centcom planners believed âthe political process will play out, that we will see a constitution, that we will see, by some political machinations, the Sunnis brought into the process and we will proceed to national elections in Decemberâ. âIf we see that and if we see progress on the second front, which is continued progress with the Iraqi security force next year, this time we'll be in the position to make some adjustments in our force structure.â Last week, Gen Peter Schoomaker, US army chief of staff, said his office was planning for the possibility that troop levels could be maintained until 2009. But Maj Gen Lute said such a worst-case scenario was unlikely. The US hopes to pacify Iraq and then take on al-Qaeda and its affiliates in an offensive from the Horn of Africa to Afghanistan's borders. âI will tell you this, as the operation officer of Centcom, if a year from now I've got to call on all those army troops that Gen Schoomaker is prepared to provide, I won't feel real good about myself,â he said. âI think that's not a good sign of progress.â Gen George Casey, commander of allied forces in Iraq, made similar comments last month on reductions that could come by early next year but they were played down by the White House. George W. Bush, the US president, has said no decisions have been made on troop levels in 2006. âI think they were rumours. I think they're speculation,â he said at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, this month after meeting his national security team. On Wednesday, the president again insisted: âWe will stay, we will fight and we will win the war on terror. An immediate withdrawal from Iraq or the greater Middle East, as some have called for, would only embolden the terrorists.â This reference to "greater Middle East" has been repeated by Pres Bush of late. Could be something for Iran to contemplate. |
| Posted by:Captain America |
| #2 Last week, Gen Peter Schoomaker, US army chief of staff, said his office was planning for the possibility that troop levels could be maintained until 2009. But Maj Gen Lute said such a worst-case scenario was unlikely. Can't this guy keep his "appraisals" to himself and let the Joint Chiefs make the statements? |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-08-24 21:37 |
| #1 Schoomaker and Lute are both right. The troops are going to leave Iraq in route to Iran. But it really sounds like Lute is full of wishfull thinking. |
| Posted by: 49 pan 2005-08-24 19:35 |