Free Republic

Iraq’s transitional prime minister called today for a speedy withdrawal of US troops and the top US commander in Iraq said he believed a “fairly substantial” pullout could begin next spring and summer. Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said at a joint news conference with US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that the time has arrived to plan a co-ordinated transition from American to Iraqi military control throughout the country. Gen George Casey, the top American commander in Iraq, told US reporters travelling with Rumsfeld that he believed a US troop withdrawal could begin by spring 2006 if progress continues on the...

BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 27, 2005 – A "fairly substantial" withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq could take place next spring or summer if the insurgency doesn't grow and the country's political process continues as scheduled, the commander of coalition forces said here today. U.S. Army Gen. George W. Casey, head of Multinational Force Iraq, spoke during a surprise visit to Iraq by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. At a later joint news conference with Rumsfeld, Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari said the departure of U.S. forces from his country depends on how soon Iraq can train, equip and field its...

BAGHDAD –– US and Iraqi authorities are to set up a body to decide on the crucial question of how and when US troops will hand over security in the war-torn country to Iraqi forces, the US embassy said Sunday. The new joint task force will meet next week and report to Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari on handover plans in 60 days, US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said in a statement. "The joint task force will establish criteria and conditions that will help determine when Iraqi security forces ... will be capable of assuming full responsibility to secure Iraq," the...

MEMORANDUM TO: OPINION LEADERSFROM: William Kristol & Gary SchmittSUBJECT: Bring The Troops Home?Yesterday’s front page of the Washington Post carried a story about a classified memo from Britain’s defense minister to Prime Minister Tony Blair detailing “emerging U.S. plans” to reduce by half the number of soldiers in Iraq by next summer. This would leave American troop levels at around 66,000. The Pentagon has denied there are any fixed plans as yet and reductions will depend on conditions in Iraq.Although the Pentagon is surely accurate in saying that no final determination to reduce troop levels has been made, it is...

<p>WASHINGTON - Major reductions in U.S. troop levels in Iraq next year appear increasingly likely, although Pentagon officials said Monday it is too early to predict the specific size and timing. The Pentagon is eager to pull some of its 135,000 troops out of Iraq in 2006, partly because the counterinsurgency is stretching the Army and Marine Corps perilously thin as casualties mount and partly because officials believe the presence of a large U.S. force is generating tacit support for anti-American violence.</p>

LONDON, July 10 (Reuters) - A leaked document from Britain's Defence Ministry says the British and U.S. governments are planning to reduce their troop levels in Iraq by more than half by mid-2006, the Mail on Sunday newspaper reported. The memo, reportedly written by Defence Minister John Reid, said Britain would reduce its troop numbers to 3,000 from 8,500 by the middle of next year. "We have a commitment to hand over to Iraqi control in Al Muthanna and Maysan provinces (two of the four provinces under British control in southern Iraq) in October 2005 and in the other two,...

The UK has more than 8,000 troops in Iraq Plans have been drawn up to withdraw thousands of UK and US troops from Iraq by the Spring of 2006. The paper, by Defence Secretary John Reid, suggests the UK's 8,500 troops in Iraq could be cut to 3,000, saving around £500m a year. The document, leaked to the Mail on Sunday, also sets out US plans to cut its troops from 176,000 to 66,000. However, Mr Reid said this was only one possibility and troops would stay in Iraq "as long as they were needed". He said in a statement...

SECRET PLAN TO QUIT IRAQ Sat Jul 09 2005 19:16:16 ET BRITAIN and America are secretly preparing to withdraw most of their troops from Iraq - despite warnings of the grave consequences for the region, the SUNDAY MAIL in UK is reporting. A secret paper written by UK Defence Secretary John Reid for Tony Blair reveals that many of the 8,500 British troops in Iraq are set to be brought home within three months, with most of the rest returning six months later. The leaked document, marked Secret: UK Eyes Only, appears to fly in the face of Mr Blair...

LONDON (Reuters) - A leaked document from Britain's Defense Ministry says the British and U.S. governments are planning to reduce their troop levels in Iraq by more than half by mid-2006, the Mail on Sunday newspaper reported. The memo, reportedly written by Defense Minister John Reid, said Britain would reduce its troop numbers to 3,000 from 8,500 by the middle of next year. "We have a commitment to hand over to Iraqi control in Al Muthanna and Maysan provinces (two of the four provinces under British control in southern Iraq) in October 2005 and in the other two, Dhi Qar...

Former President Bill Clinton says setting deadline for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq would aid terrorists trying to destroy a growing democracy. "They are dying beside us in the service of what they hope will be an independent country," said Clinton, speaking at the 2005 Aspen Ideas Festival on Friday night. "I wouldn't give it up yet. I'd stick in there and try to make it work. And I wouldn't set a deadline either. I think that's a mistake. If we set a deadline, (the terrorists) will believe all they have to do is wait. So unless you know you...

GLENEAGLES, Scotland -- Italy plans to begin withdrawing some of its troops from Iraq in September, Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Friday. Berlusconi, who was a strong supporter of President Bush on Iraq, sent 3,000 troops to the country after the ouster of Saddam Hussein to help rebuild the country. He had previously indicated he hoped a pullout could begin in September. "We will begin withdrawing 300 men in the month of September," Berlusconi said at the G-8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland.......................

If George Bush did not flirt with withdrawal during last year's presidential campaign, when it looked as if Iraq might cost him his political career, he certainly will not do so as a second-term president. Americans know that. But the world may not. Particularly as it keeps hearing congressional voices calling for withdrawal, timetables and exit strategies. Hence the president's nationally televised address to the nation Tuesday on Iraq. One purpose, of course, was to state, once again, the case for the war. But the most important line was the restatement of his position on withdrawal before victory: "This will...

During hostilities in Vietnam, U.S. casualties were fewer than 10,000 at the end of 1967 and the beginning of 1968. From those days of the 1968 Tet offensive in Vietnam, to the close of hostilities in 1975, nearly 48,000 more American service personnel died. During that same post-Tet period, anti-war sentiment reached a fever pitch back in the United States. These statistics stand firm as a stark reminder of how a populace of an uninformed or misinformed nation can kill their own citizen soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen. During this same post-Tet period, the senior North Vietnamese Commander, General Giap,...

By Leo Shane III Stars and Stripes Mideast edition WASHINGTON — Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld called any deadline for withdrawal from Iraq “a terrible mistake” that could undermine U.S. forces' progress against the insurgency. “It would throw a lifeline to terrorists, who in recent months have suffered significant losses in casualties,” he told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday. “The timing must be condition based, and will depend on the extent to which ethnic factions reconcile … and the level of support from the international community.” At the hearing, Senate Democrats had proposed using the threat of withdrawal...

Terrorist sympathizers in the Democrat Party are constantly prattling "EXIT STRATEGY" as if they have latched on to some clever argument. Next time you hear this phrase, ask the Leftist the following: What was our "EXIT STRATEGY" for the Revolutionary War? After all, it lasted 6 1/2 years and we took on the most powerful military in the world, which also hired Hessians to help them try to defeat us. NO? You mean there never WAS an "EXIT STRATEGY" for the Revolutionary War? All right then, how about the Civil War? What was the North's "EXIT STRATEGY"? Has that document...

President Bush assured Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari on Friday "there are not going to be any timetables" for withdrawal of American forces and vowed victory over insurgents attempting to prevent establishment of a democratic government under a new constitution. "This is not the time to fall back," al-Jaafari concurred at a joint news conference at the White House. Fielding questions hours after the latest attack on a U.S. military convoy left an unknown number of American troops dead, Bush conceded that it bothers Americans to see scenes of carnage on television. Speaking of the insurgents, he said, "There's no...

Lt. Gen. Vines: Iraq Drawdown Unlikely Before December June 22, 2005 By Lisa Burgess Stars and Stripes Mideast edition ARLINGTON, Va. — With the level of violence in Iraq expected to remain at current levels for at least the next four months, U.S. commanders are not planning to make any near-term reductions in the 135,000 U.S. troops in that country, a key U.S. commander in Iraq said Tuesday. “We're not at that point yet,” Army Lt. Gen. John R. Vines, commander of the Multinational Corps Iraq, told Pentagon reporters Tuesday. “We don't see the insurgency contracting or expanding right now,”...

By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer 9 minutes ago Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld rejected calls by some lawmakers for the Bush administration to set a timetable for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. "That would be a mistake," he told a Senate panel Thursday. "Timing in war is never predictable. There are never guarantees," Rumsfeld told the Senate Armed Services Committee. "Those who say we are losing this war are wrong. We are not." Congressional Democrats are demanding answers about the future presence of U.S. troops in Iraq. Rumsfeld, testifying on the progress in training Iraq's own security forces, said these...

S troops may start withdrawing from Iraq in March, a US general said, as the new US ambassador to the war-torn country pledged to help Iraqis crush a ruthless insurgency. As many as four or five brigades (up to 20,000 people) could leave if the country's ethnic groups agree on a constitution and elect a government that has broad support, Lieutenant General John Vines said in Washington via video link from Iraq. "I suspect we will probably draw down capability after the election, because Iraqi security forces are more capable," Vines said. He referred to planned elections at the end...

US commander predicts insurgency to dwindle rapidly once government elected with broad support. By Jim Mannion – WASHINGTON The US military will probably begin withdrawing some forces from Iraq by March, a top US commander said Tuesday, predicting the insurgency will dwindle rapidly if the country's Sunnis, Shia and Kurds can agree on a constitution and elect a government that has broad support. Lieutenant General John Vines, the number two US commander in Iraq, said any drawdown would depend on conditions on the ground. But he said as many as four or five US brigades probably would come out in...