LoungeMachine
06-11-2006, 06:20 PM
Iraqi Official Says Most Foreign Troops to Leave by End of 2007
June 11 (Bloomberg) -- The number of foreign troops in Iraq will drop to fewer than 100,000 by January and most will have left within 18 months, according to that nation's national security adviser.
``By the end of next year most of the multinational forces will have gone home,'' the adviser, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, said today on CNN's ``Late Edition.''
President George W. Bush promised last month to keep U.S. troops, who account for about 133,000 of the 149,000 coalition forces, in Iraq until its government is ready to take over security. The Bush administration is holding a two-day meeting at the presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland, starting tomorrow to plan ways to prop up the Iraqi government.
Bush faces domestic pressure over Iraq. An Associated Press-Ipsos poll last week found 59 percent of adults believe the U.S. made a mistake in entering the war three years ago. House Republicans, trying to maintain control of Congress this election year, plan to debate the war this week.
General George Casey, who leads coalition forces in Iraq, was less specific about a drawdown of the U.S. presence, saying on the CBS News program ``Face the Nation'' that it will depend on how Iraqis manage the transition.
``As long as the Iraqi security forces continue to progress and as long as this national unity government continues to operate that way and move the country forward, I think we're going to be able to see contained gradual reductions of coalition forces over the coming months and into next year,'' he said.
Condition-Based Timetable
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Danish prime minister and a U.S. ally who met with Bush at Camp David last week, stressed on ``Late Edition'' that the timetable for withdrawal is ``condition-based.''
Iraq's prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, also said last month that Iraqis would be able in 18 months to secure the country without significant U.S. assistance. Bush administration officials will meet next week by videoconference with officials of al-Maliki's government as part of the Camp David gathering. Among the issues will be taming militias and determining what kind of aid Iraq needs for its transition.
``We'll need to work out what sort of financial help we need for next year, Iraq needs, what sort of training we need, what the level of troops is going to be for the next year in Iraq and the number of multinational forces,'' al-Rubaie said.
He said ``there's a lot of political engagement with the militia leaders.''
Al-Zarqawi
The June 7 killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, has created an opening for both political and military progress, according to al-Rubaie. Zarqawi's death will encourage other insurgents to join the political process and military intelligence gleaned from the raid has spawned other operations, he said.
``It was very, very useful,'' al-Rubaie said. ``We found a lot of material in that place. We found diaries. We found telephone numbers. We found computers. There was a database.''
On the Nov. 19 killing of civilians by U.S. Marines in Haditha, al-Rubaie said, ``I will wait for the outcome'' of his government's investigation.
The chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, said on ``Late Edition'' he believed the Armed Services Committee ought to hold hearings into the matter ``sooner rather than later.'' The chairman, John Warner of Virginia, has called for hearings.
Neal Puckett, an attorney for one of the Marines, Staff Sergeant Frank D. Wuterich, 26, said on ``Late Edition'' that ``it's just wrong to represent this as a massacre or as something that was unlawful.''
Congressional Debate
U.S. Representative Thomas Reynolds, the New York Republican in charge of his party's House election efforts this year, minimized the Iraq war as an issue.
``I look at Congress' responsibility to make sure that our men and women are the best trained and have the best equipment to fight this war,'' he said on the ABC news program ``This Week.'' The Democrats haven't given a ``clear opinion'' on the war or ``most issues,'' he said.
U.S. Representative Rahm Emanuel, the Illinois Democrat heading his party's House campaign efforts, disagreed.
``Congress didn't ask the questions'' about the conduct of the war and the needs of the soldiers, he said. The debate is over ``Iraq sovereignty in 2006, and in 2007, how do we make sure America begins its redeployment from Iraq.''
June 11 (Bloomberg) -- The number of foreign troops in Iraq will drop to fewer than 100,000 by January and most will have left within 18 months, according to that nation's national security adviser.
``By the end of next year most of the multinational forces will have gone home,'' the adviser, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, said today on CNN's ``Late Edition.''
President George W. Bush promised last month to keep U.S. troops, who account for about 133,000 of the 149,000 coalition forces, in Iraq until its government is ready to take over security. The Bush administration is holding a two-day meeting at the presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland, starting tomorrow to plan ways to prop up the Iraqi government.
Bush faces domestic pressure over Iraq. An Associated Press-Ipsos poll last week found 59 percent of adults believe the U.S. made a mistake in entering the war three years ago. House Republicans, trying to maintain control of Congress this election year, plan to debate the war this week.
General George Casey, who leads coalition forces in Iraq, was less specific about a drawdown of the U.S. presence, saying on the CBS News program ``Face the Nation'' that it will depend on how Iraqis manage the transition.
``As long as the Iraqi security forces continue to progress and as long as this national unity government continues to operate that way and move the country forward, I think we're going to be able to see contained gradual reductions of coalition forces over the coming months and into next year,'' he said.
Condition-Based Timetable
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Danish prime minister and a U.S. ally who met with Bush at Camp David last week, stressed on ``Late Edition'' that the timetable for withdrawal is ``condition-based.''
Iraq's prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, also said last month that Iraqis would be able in 18 months to secure the country without significant U.S. assistance. Bush administration officials will meet next week by videoconference with officials of al-Maliki's government as part of the Camp David gathering. Among the issues will be taming militias and determining what kind of aid Iraq needs for its transition.
``We'll need to work out what sort of financial help we need for next year, Iraq needs, what sort of training we need, what the level of troops is going to be for the next year in Iraq and the number of multinational forces,'' al-Rubaie said.
He said ``there's a lot of political engagement with the militia leaders.''
Al-Zarqawi
The June 7 killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, has created an opening for both political and military progress, according to al-Rubaie. Zarqawi's death will encourage other insurgents to join the political process and military intelligence gleaned from the raid has spawned other operations, he said.
``It was very, very useful,'' al-Rubaie said. ``We found a lot of material in that place. We found diaries. We found telephone numbers. We found computers. There was a database.''
On the Nov. 19 killing of civilians by U.S. Marines in Haditha, al-Rubaie said, ``I will wait for the outcome'' of his government's investigation.
The chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, said on ``Late Edition'' he believed the Armed Services Committee ought to hold hearings into the matter ``sooner rather than later.'' The chairman, John Warner of Virginia, has called for hearings.
Neal Puckett, an attorney for one of the Marines, Staff Sergeant Frank D. Wuterich, 26, said on ``Late Edition'' that ``it's just wrong to represent this as a massacre or as something that was unlawful.''
Congressional Debate
U.S. Representative Thomas Reynolds, the New York Republican in charge of his party's House election efforts this year, minimized the Iraq war as an issue.
``I look at Congress' responsibility to make sure that our men and women are the best trained and have the best equipment to fight this war,'' he said on the ABC news program ``This Week.'' The Democrats haven't given a ``clear opinion'' on the war or ``most issues,'' he said.
U.S. Representative Rahm Emanuel, the Illinois Democrat heading his party's House campaign efforts, disagreed.
``Congress didn't ask the questions'' about the conduct of the war and the needs of the soldiers, he said. The debate is over ``Iraq sovereignty in 2006, and in 2007, how do we make sure America begins its redeployment from Iraq.''