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February 27th,
2009 - Officials: Obama Sets Aug. 2010 as Iraq End Date |
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Officials:
Obama Sets Aug. 2010 as Iraq End Date By Ben Feller Associated Press February 27, 2009 Washington - A
"substantial" number of the roughly 100,000 U.S. combat troops to
be pulled out of Iraq by Aug. 31, 2010, will remain in the war zone through
at least the end of this year to ensure national elections there go smoothly,
senior Obama administration officials say. That pacing suggests that
although Obama's promised withdrawal will start soon, it will be backloaded,
with larger numbers of troops returning later in the 18-month time frame. Obama was to announce his
strategy Friday at the sprawling Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, where
thousands of Marines are soon heading to another war front, Afghanistan. The administration now
considers Aug. 31, 2010, as the end date for Iraq war operations. That timetable is slower
than Obama had promised voters, but still hastens the U.S. exit. Even with the drawdown, a
sizable U.S. force of 35,000 to 50,000 U.S. troops will stay in Iraq under a
new mission of training, civilian protection and counterterrorism. The potential size of that
remaining force doesn't please leaders of Obama's own Democratic Party, who
had envisioned a fuller withdrawal. Obama personally briefed House and Senate
members of both parties about his intentions behind closed doors Thursday. Still, war critics are ready
to hear Obama's public words. They see his much-anticipated announcement as
the beginning of the end of a long, costly conflict. The last of the U.S. troops
will be in Iraq no later than Dec. 31, 2011. That's the deadline set under an
agreement the two countries sealed during George W. Bush's presidency. Obama
has no plans to extend that date or pursue any permanent troop presence in
Iraq. Administration officials
spoke about Obama's Iraq decision under condition of anonymity to discuss
details of the strategy ahead of the announcement. The Iraq war helped fuel
Obama's presidential bid. Most Americans think the war was a mistake. More
than 4,250 U.S. military members have died in the war. From the Jan. 20 start of
his presidency to his deadline for ending the combat mission, Obama has
settled on a 19-month withdrawal. He had promised a faster pace of 16 months
during his campaign but also said he would confer with military commanders on
a responsible exit. Officials said Thursday that
the timetable Obama ultimately selected was the recommendation of all the key
principals - including Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Michael
Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The timeline was settled on as
the one that would best manage security risks without jeopardizing the gains
of recent months. With 142,000 U.S. troops in
Iraq, Obama plans to withdraw most of them; the total comes to roughly 92,000
to 107,000, based on administration projections. Officials said Obama would
not set a more specific schedule, such as how many troops will exit per month
because he wants to give his commanders in Iraq flexibility. "They'll
either speed it up or slow it down, depending on what they need," said
one official. Yet the officials made clear
Obama wants to keep a strong security presence in Iraq through a series of
elections in 2009, capped by national elections tentatively set for December.
That important, final election date could slip into 2010, which is perhaps
why Obama's timetable for withdrawing combat troops has slipped by a few
months, too. One official said Gen. Ray
Odierno, the top American commander in Baghdad, wants a "substantial
force on the ground in Iraq to ensure that the elections come off." Another official said
Odierno wanted flexibility around the elections. "The president found
that very compelling," the official said. Obama has maintained that
getting out of Iraq is in the security interest of the United States. He
planned to emphasize in his comments on Friday, however, that the U.S. has no
plans to withdraw from its interests in the region and will intensify its diplomatic
efforts. The senior administration
officials sought to describe Obama's decision-making process as one that was
not driven by his political promise to end the war. They said he consulted
extensively with his military team while interagency government teams
reviewed the options. Obama made the final
decision on Thursday, officials said. The U.S. forces that will
remain in Iraq starting Sept. 1, 2010, will have three missions: training and
advising Iraqi security forces; providing protection and support for U.S. and
other civilians working on missions in the country; and targeted
counterterrorism. Obama had promised all along
to keep a residual force in Iraq. "When they talk about
50,000, that's a little higher number than I had anticipated," Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid said before the briefing at the White House. Among
others there was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has also expressed concern
about the troop levels. Violence is down
significantly in Baghdad and most of Iraq, although many areas remain
unstable. U.S. military deaths in Iraq plunged by two-thirds in 2008 from the
previous year, a reflection of the improving security after a troop buildup
in 2007. Copyright © 2009 The
Associated Press. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gXhIn6Dsn59np7LYG6eYS5GubXUAD96JTESO1 |