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MAF Presents: The Daily Blog
Here at the Move America Forward Daily Blog we chronicle the good news on the War on Terrorism you might
not have heard about on the evening news. We also shine the spotlight on those whose conduct against our
country and our military is unbecoming.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Officer: It will take more than two years to safely withdraw troops
A quick withdrawal from Iraq may be more difficult that President-elect Barack Obama led Americans to believe in his campaign. A top officer says that complete withdrawal will take several years.
The Washington Post reports:
By Ann Scott Tyson
The U.S. military would require two to three years to remove its roughly 150,000 troops and equipment from Iraq safely, and the timing of that withdrawal should be based on security conditions on the ground, the nation’s top military officer said today.
“To remove the entire force would be, you know, two to three years,” Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at a Pentagon news conference.
While Mullen said that he and the top commanders for Iraq and the region, Gen. Ray Odierno and Gen. David Petraeus, were “comfortable” with the status of forces agreement signed with Iraq today, he described some logistical hurdles to a U.S. troop withdrawal along a fixed timeline.
“We have 150,000 troops in Iraq right now. We have lots of bases. We have an awful lot of equipment that’s there. And so we would have to look at all of that tied to, obviously, the conditions that are there, literally the security conditions,” he said.
“Clearly, we’d want to be able to do it safely.”
Asked about a requirement that U.S. troops move out of Iraqi cities by mid-2009, Mullen said the gradual shift from urban areas has been the practice as Iraqi forces take responsibility for security in different provinces. But he said the Iraqi capital of Baghdad and northern city of Mosul were likely to pose special challenges.
“Turning the security of Baghdad over in that requirement will be a big challenge,” he said. “The other that is clearly not secure up north is Mosul. And we continue to be in a pretty tough fight up in Mosul,” he said.
Mullen emphasized that he still believes any U.S. troop reductions should be based on the levels of violence in Iraq - a position that runs counter to the official Iraqi stance.
It is important that the incoming administration forego kneejerk reactions to appease those who voted for Barack Obama. Obama must keep America’s safety as his No. 1 priority. That may preclude him from yanking troops out at a whim.
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