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March 8th,
2009 - Drawdown in Iraq Begins: 12,000 Troops to Return by Fall |
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Drawdown in Iraq Begins:
12,000 Troops to Return by Fall By Gordon Lubold Christian Science Monitor March 8, 2009 Washington - The top US
commander in Iraq is sending two combat brigades home from Iraq, marking the
first major drawdown of US troops there since the "surge" ended
last year. The announcement comes just
days after President Obama announced that the US combat mission in Iraq would
end by September 2010, but left open the question of when they would begin to
return. The redeployment could be
seen as a down payment on the promised withdrawal of forces. Administration
officials have indicated that, as expected, most of the rest of the combat
forces won't return from Iraq until much later this year or early next, in
order to ensure security for the Iraqi elections. The Afghanistan mission also
plays a role: The brigades that would have replaced the two returning from
Iraq are being sent instead to Afghanistan, where Mr. Obama has promised more
troops to deal with the deteriorating security. Gen. Ray Odierno, the top US
commander in Iraq, announced Sunday that over the next six months, two combat
brigade teams and their supporting elements, or about 12,000 troops, would
return home from Iraq without being replaced. An American F-16 fighter
squadron will also be sent back without being replaced. That will reduce the total
combat force in Iraq from the current 14 brigades to a total of 12 brigades.
General Odierno also formally announced that a British brigade of about 4,000
troops would be sent home without being replaced. "The time and
conditions are right for coalition forces to reduce the number of troops in
Iraq," Odierno said in a prepared statement. "The successful
provincial elections demonstrated the increased capability of the Iraqi army
and police to provide security." At the height of the surge
of US troops in 2007, there were a total of 20 combat brigades deployed to
Iraq, driving up the total number of American forces there to 166,000 in
October 2007. When the surge ended last year, US commanders sent back five
brigades, or about 20,000 troops. The Pentagon then reduced
American presence further by another brigade, leaving 14 combat brigades in
Iraq and a total of 140,000 American troops. "After we remove our
combat brigades, our mission will change from combat to supporting the Iraqi
government and its security forces, as they take the absolute lead in
securing their country," Obama said during a speech at a Marine base in
North Carolina Feb. 27. Iraq's own security force
has grown in recent years to more than 600,000 and become increasingly more
capable. The combination of US troops
and Iraqi security forces has improved security in the country since the
height of the insurgency in 2004. About 135 American troops were killed in
April that year, according to icasualties.org. Last month, 16 Americans
were killed in Iraq, according to the website. There remain pockets of
insurgency in some areas, including in the north around Mosul and Baquba. US
commanders are concerned that the drawdown of US forces is done carefully so
as not to alter the security situation on the ground. Generally, US forces
will pull out of the cities and back to more centralized bases before
withdrawing altogether. Although Obama pledged to
end the combat mission in Iraq by September 2010, he has also said he will
leave as many as 50,000 American troops in Iraq for another year or so after
that to perform advisory and training roles. The current agreement
between Iraq and the US requires all US forces to be out of Iraq by the end
of 2011. But experts and military commanders believe new agreements will
ensure that some residual American forces will reside in Iraq even after that
time. External link: http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0309/p03s06-usmi.html |