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Here is video of Charles Krauthammer on "Special Report" questioning if Obama is "committed to success" in Afghanistan. Krauthammer said a timetable for withdrawal sends a bad signal to our allies in Afghanistan by saying "in 18 months the Americans are going to start to leave, and you will be left naked against the Taliban, who will be angry if you help the Americans during the 18 months." (Video)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States will not be in Afghanistan eight years from now, the White House said on Wednesday, as President Barack Obama prepared to explain to Americans next week why he is expanding the war effort. After months of deliberation and fending off Republican charges that he was dithering on Afghanistan while violence there surged, Obama will address the nation on Tuesday on the way forward in the costly and unpopular eight-year war. He is expected to announce he is sending about 30,000 more troops as part of a new counterinsurgency strategy that will place greater emphasis...

BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) – Green groups and activists for the developing world accused rich nations of tiptoeing away from vows to seal a binding, far-reaching UN treaty on climate change in Copenhagen next month. Their bitter response came after European Union (EU) negotiators in Barcelona spelt out the likelihood that the much-trumpeted pact would be concluded in 2010, not at the December 7-18 meeting as planned. The talks, launched under a two-year "road map" in Bali, call for a global accord to curb emissions of heat-trapping carbon gases beyond 2012 and channel funds to poor countries most threatened by drought,...

BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday that German troops would stay in Afghanistan until their goals were achieved, dismissing the possibility of setting a timeline for withdrawal. In an interview with ZDF television being aired Sunday night, provided in advance to the AP, Merkel said she could not commit to bringing the troops home in a specific timeframe. She said she wanted them home “as soon as possible” but not until the mission was complete. “We have a goal, and that is self-sustaining security for Afghanistan,” she said. She would not speculate on when that goal might be reached....

Q As you say, the complexity of this training effort, particularly with the Iraqi air force -- again, do you think that some trainers, U.S. trainers and mentors, will be needed after 2011? GEN. HELMICK: Well, I guess it depends on how we identify air sovereignty for the Iraqi air force. There will be a team that comes here from Washington, D.C., in the next week or so, to kind of refine where the Iraqi air force is and where they think the Iraqi air force should be, based on the current glide path, if you will, on procurement of...

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon presented a grim portrait of the Afghanistan war Thursday, offering no assurances about how long Americans will be fighting there or how many U.S. combat troops it will take to win. Defeating the Taliban and al-Qaida will take "a few years," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said, with success on a larger scale in the desperately poor country a much longer proposition. He acknowledged that the Taliban has a firm hold on parts of the country President Barack Obama has called vital to U.S. security.

<p>"WHERE are the Ameri cans?" Talk to Iraqis in Baghdad these days, and you'll likely hear the question.</p> <p>Of course, everyone knows where the Americans are physically. The 130,000 US troops cantoned in a diminishing number of barracks outside the cities make their presence felt on occasion. The thousands of civilian Americans who are helping build a new Iraq are also easy to spot.</p>

US commander in Iraq claims the military has largely honored the security agreement with Baghdad amid, what he claimed to be, a relative lull in militant activities. On Monday, General Ray Odierno said the pullout from urban areas was on the go with the troops having left the Iraqi forces in charge of 142 former US bases, Xinhua reported. Briefing a press conference in Baghdad, he suggested a link between the withdrawal and an alleged respite in al-Qaeda-linked attacks -- which the United States projects as an outcome its invasion of Iraq. Odierno claimed the US was 'absolutely committed' to...

As the U.S. military continues its slow withdrawal from Iraq, the Iraqi people face a decision that might force those efforts into overdrive. A referendum scheduled for July 30 would give Iraqis the chance to vote for or against the Iraqi-U.S. security agreement that calls for all American troops to leave Iraq by Dec. 31, 2011. If the referendum goes ahead as scheduled and Iraqi voters reject the agreement — a likely outcome, observers say — the United States would be obliged to pull out troops one year after the vote, or nearly 1½ years before the deadline set by...

All but a few dozen of the 16,000 Marines now in Iraq will be out by next spring, the Marine Corps commandant said Thursday, putting a solid end date on a long-anticipated exit. Gen. James T. Conway said his Marine commanders are already moving equipment out of Anbar Province, where his forces have largely been concentrated. But the larger exodus will begin shortly after the Iraqi elections....

U.S. combat forces will vacate all Iraqi cities on schedule by the end of this month, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq said Tuesday, including the still violent insurgent holdout of Mosul.

The Pentagon is prepared to leave fighting forces in Iraq for as long as a decade despite an agreement between the United States and Iraq that would bring all American troops home by 2012, the top U.S. Army officer said Tuesday. Gen. George Casey, the Army chief of staff, said the world remains dangerous and unpredictable, and the Pentagon must plan for extended U.S. combat and stability operations in two wars. "Global trends are pushing in the wrong direction," Casey said. "They fundamentally will change how the Army works." He spoke at an invitation-only briefing to a dozen journalists and...

WASHINGTON, April 12, 2009 – The U.S. is on track to meet the terms of a timeline of withdrawal from Iraq, the top American commander in Iraq said today. Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno said he believes the U.S. is prepared to fulfill a deal requiring U.S. forces to leave major Iraqi cities by June 30 and all combat troops to depart the country by the end of 2011. “We continue to work with the government of Iraq so they can meet that timeline so that they are able to maintain stability after...

RAMADI, Iraq – As the Marine Corps shrinks its footprint in Iraq's western desert, Iraqi community leaders here are publicly voicing worries about what will happen once the Americans are gone. They fear a wave of corruption and the return of the insurgency that once held sway over the area. Marines have begun divorcing themselves from the task of advising local leaders, the clearest signal that their role in Anbar province is quickly nearing its end. An Associated Press reporter embedded with the troops witnessed two cases in a single day of Iraqis — a headmistress and a party of...

Iraqi, U.S. officials cite different pullout terms As the endgame of the U.S. involvement in Iraq develops, some plans are in place but there are several practical questions that remain unanswered. Under the withdrawal plan announced by President Barack Obama in late February, some 35,000 to 50,000 U.S. troops will remain in Iraq from summer 2010 to the end of 2011. Their mission is supposed to be limited to training Iraqi forces, conducting counter-terrorism operations, and protecting U.S. civilian and military personnel operating in the country. Some of the previous ideas about a continuing U.S. presence in the region have...

Grenades lie unattended next to a west Mosul bazaar. Garbage bags throughout the city are searched daily for bombs. At a sprawling sheep market, Iraqi army soldiers are careful not to kick over rocks for fear of setting off hidden explosives. War has ebbed in most parts of Iraq, but not in Mosul, the third-largest city and Al Qaeda's last stronghold in the fragile new democracy. And time is running out on the around-the-clock U.S. military patrols of Mosul. U.S. troops must vacate cities by June 30 under an agreement with the Iraqis, and President Obama is ending all American...

WASHINGTON, March 9, 2009 – Military leaders in Iraq have begun working toward achieving President Barack Obama’s goal of a complete troop withdrawal from Iraq by the end of 2010, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman said during a briefing from Iraq yesterday. “Between now and September … we’ll be reducing by two brigade combat teams here on the ground in Iraq,” Army Maj. Gen. David Perkins, the command’s director for strategic effects, said. “We’ll also be reducing the number of various enablers.” Enablers are the units that make it possible for the brigade combat teams to carry out their missions,...

Here is video of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - Admiral Mike Mullen - talking with CNN's John King yesterday about President Obama's timeline for withdrawal of all U.S. "Combat" Troops from Iraq. Mullen says he is very comfortable with the plan decided on, and that Obama did listen to his commanders in the field in making this decision. It is hilarious to me that Obama is touting the withdrawal of all "combat" troops by August 2010 to cover himself on his campaign pledge to pull out of Iraq. The only thing is, he is leaving 50,000 Troops...

Battle building amongst Dems over Iraq troop-reduction planBy Susan Ferrechio Chief Congressional Correspondent 3/1/09 “I don’t think we should leave any troops there,” Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., who heads the defense appropriations subcommittee that allocates war funds said about the troop-reduction plan. ..Congressional Democrats’ misgivings about President Barack Obama’s plan to reduce troop levels in Iraq has set the stage for potentially major conflicts between Capitol Hill and the White House in the months ahead.Obama’s announcement Friday that he will leave between 35,000 and 50,000 troops in Iraq after August 2010 brought lukewarm responses from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,...

President Obama's announcement of an 18-month timeline today for withdrawing U.S. combat forces from Iraq included a notable nod to his U.S. military commanders. "Let there be no doubt," he acknowledged during a visit to Camp Lejeune, N.C. "Iraq is not yet secure." He added that "too many fundamental questions remain unresolved." No one is more aware of this point than the U.S. military. President Obama's plan to bring U.S. troops home ultimately represents a compromise between top U.S. military commanders on the ground in Iraq--who pushed for a slower-than-16-month timeline while warning the president and his advisers that Iraq...

President Obama on Saturday struck back aggressively at critics of his $3.6 trillion budget proposal, casting himself as a populist crusader whose "sweeping change" has angered Washington's entrenched special interests, and promised to fight them. "I realize that passing this budget won't be easy. Because it represents real and dramatic change, it also represents a threat to the status quo in Washington," Mr. Obama said in his weekly video and radio address. Mr. Obama's language was combative and confrontational, as he promised to fight for "American families." "I know these steps won't sit well with the special interests and lobbyists...

By Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington and Andrew Ward at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama pledged to remove combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of entering the White House. John McCain, his opponent, strongly disagreed with the imposition of an artificial timetable, saying he would rather lose the presidency than the war. It is a measure of how much has changed over the past six months that Mr McCain is now one of the chief cheerleaders for Mr ObamaÂ’s plan to withdraw US combat troops from Iraq by August 2010. The former Republican presidential nominee...

In announcing the US’s plans to withdraw from Iraq, and going as far as setting a date, President Obama has literally given away the Iraqi store. Citing progress, the continually improving Iraqi training cycles, and Afghanistan the United States has given the terrorist organization plenty of times to order new drapes and carpeting.

After nearly six years of war and 4,300 US military deaths, President Obama declared yesterday that combat operations in Iraq will end in 18 months and that most US troops will head home by then - but that the vast majority of the 142,000 troops now on the ground will stay through the end of this year to safeguard Iraq's national elections in December. The president announced that 35,000 to 50,000 troops will stay in the country as late as Dec. 31, 2011, the full withdrawal deadline set by Iraqi leaders and President George W. Bush, and that Obama pledged...

WASHINGTON - After years of bitterly debating whether to set a timetable for troop withdrawals in Iraq, Congress has agreed to one. The general consensus came Friday in the form of statements endorsing President Barack Obama's plan to bring home roughly two-thirds of the U.S. military force in Iraq by August 2010. It was a compromise of sorts for the Democratic president, who campaigned on the promise of bringing every soldier and Marine home from Iraq within 16 months of taking office. His plan paves the way for some 100,000 troops to come home and as many as 50,000 troops...

YESTERDAY, President Obama went to Camp Lejeune. He spoke in front of US Marines, but his real audience was his left-wing campaign supporters. And his carefully worded speech - its parsing of language worthy of Bill Clinton - may go down in history as his "Mission Accomplished" moment. We'll see who leaves Iraq when. During last year's presidential campaign, it was evident that Obama wouldn't keep his promises to his leftist base to pull our troops out rapidly. While he benefited greatly from the troop surge he opposed - which handed him a convalescent Iraq - he's learning that reality...

In 18 months, President Obama plans to give America what it hoped it had six years ago -- its "Mission Accomplished" moment in Iraq.Obama announced Friday his plan to end combat operations in Iraq by the end of August 2010, saying the goal of a "sovereign, stable and self-reliant" Iraq is achievable. Senior officials said the war, effectively, will end before Labor Day next year. But even supporters of the plan warn that any success in Iraq is fragile. And even if the war is over, the job still is far from done. President Bush was accused of prematurely declaring victory in...

Iraq War: President Obama traveled to Camp Lejeune, N.C., on Friday to announce that the U.S. would stay in Iraq at least until 2012 and keep 50,000 troops there even after combat ends. Sound familiar?Obama's withdrawal plan would take U.S. forces in Iraq down from a current 142,000 troops to 35,000 to 50,000. Under the status of forces agreement between the U.S. and Iran, negotiated and signed last year by the Bush administration, all forces must be out of Iraq by the end of 2011. In short, though President Obama will get credit, it was Bush's plan — not Obama's....

President Obama announced the withdrawal yesterday of more than 90,000 US combat troops from Iraq by August next year but his decision to keep a force of up to 50,000 was attacked by leaders of his party as a betrayal of his promise to end the war. Mr Obama's drawdown plan was even embraced by Republicans — including John McCain, his election opponent last year — but was criticised by anti-war liberals. It was the latest of several moves by the President that have disappointed the Left, who had convinced themselves that he would end the US presence in Iraq...

Obama told top leaders in Congress on Thursday that he will transition the mission in Iraq to training, advising and engaging in limited counter-terrorist operations.

President Barack Obama says he'll withdraw America's combat brigades from Iraq over the next 18 months. Do you think this is a good plan?

What Candidate Obama promised and President Obama delivered has many of his most ardent supporters on the left -- from members of Congress down to grassroots anti-war activists -- wondering whether he can be counted on to advance the liberal agenda. The president, speaking to Marines in Camp Lejeune, N.C, on Friday, announced that the U.S. will end the Iraq war over the next 18 months, ordering the immediate drawdown of the 142,000 troops in Iraq. The war will officially end on Aug. 31, 2010. But Obama's withdrawal plan will take three months longer than he promised on the campaign...

CQ TODAY PRINT EDITION – DEFENSE Feb. 25, 2009 – 7:41 p.m. President’s Plan for Withdrawal From Iraq Is Attacked From Both Fronts By Josh Rogin, CQ Staff Senior lawmakers from both parties criticized President Obama’s soon-to-be announced Iraq withdrawal plan from different directions Wednesday, setting the stage for a contentious debate over one of the president’s top campaign promises. Obama’s new withdrawal schedule, which reportedly will be unveiled this week, is expected to call for removing most major combat forces from Iraq by August 2010. The strategy would also leave up to 50,000 U.S. troops in Iraq for various...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama told lawmakers on Thursday he plans to withdraw most American troops from Iraq by August 2010 but leave tens of thousands behind to advise Iraqi forces and protect U.S. interests, congressional officials said. Obama is expected to announce the new strategy on Friday during a trip to Camp Lejeune, N.C. In a closed-door meeting with Republican and Democratic leaders, Obama and his top advisers estimated that 35,000 to 50,000 troops would remain. Among those attending the meeting were House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Minority Leader John...

President Barack Obama is expected to order all U.S. combat troops to leave Iraq by August of next year, administration officials said, closing the door on a war that has led to the death of 4,250 American soldiers...

WASHINGTON – The United States plans to withdraw most of its troops from Iraq by August 2010, 19 months after President Barack Obama's inauguration, according to administration officials. The withdrawal plan would fulfill one of Obama's central campaign pledges, albeit a little more slowly than he promised. He said he would withdraw troops within 16 months, roughly one brigade a month from the time of his inauguration. The officials said they expect Obama to make the announcement this week. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan has not been made public

Administration officials say President Barack Obama is planning to announce that most U.S. troops will be out of Iraq in less than 19 months.

The United States needs to stay in Iraq and Afghanistan until it has achieved a decisive victory over Islamic jihadists, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum said Monday. “Containing them is not enough,” the two-term conservative Republican senator said during a telephone interview. Santorum, who will be in Lincoln Tuesday for two speaking appearances, said Islamic radicals view the election of President Barack Obama as a signal that the United States is “in the process of surrender.” Obama plans to order a phased withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq over the next 16 months. Although he is preparing to send...

A more methodical and independent decision-making style than expected has surprised U.S. military officials. President Barack Obama is refusing to be rushed into his first decision to send troops into combat, an early sign he may be more independent-minded than U.S. military leaders expected. The new president's methodical decision-making offers an early insight into how the new commander in chief will approach the war in Afghanistan and has surprised some Pentagon officials, who had predicted repeatedly in the past two weeks that Obama would decide within days on additional forces, only to find the White House taking more time. Rather...

WASHINGTON, Feb 2 (IPS) - CENTCOM commander Gen. David Petraeus, supported by Defence Secretary Robert Gates, tried to convince President Barack Obama that he had to back down from his campaign pledge to withdraw all U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months at an Oval Office meeting Jan. 21. But Obama informed Gates, Petraeus and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen that he wasn't convinced and that he wanted Gates and the military leaders to come back quickly with a detailed 16-month plan, according to two sources who have talked with participants in the meeting. Obama's decision to override...

WASHINGTON: CENTCOM commander General David Petraeus, supported by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, tried to convince President Barack Obama that he had to back down from his campaign pledge to pullout all US combat troops from Iraq within 18 months at an Oval Office meeting on January 21, sources have said. But Obama informed Gates, Petraeus and Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen that he wasn't convinced and wanted Gates and the military leaders to come back quickly with a detailed 16-month plan, according to two sources who have talked with participants in the meeting. Obama's decision to override Petraeus' recommendation...

"Substantial" troops home from Iraq in year: Obama Sun Feb 1, 2009 5:32pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said Sunday that a substantial number of U.S. troops will have returned from Iraq within a year and predicted his economic stimulus package will pick up more Republican support. "We are in a position to start putting more responsibility on the Iraqis and that's good news not only for the troops in the field but their families," Obama said in an interview on NBC. Asked whether a "substantial" number of troops will be home from Iraq within a year, Obama...

The U.S. military has officially signed over ownership of Camp Ramadi to the Iraqi government, though American troops are not scheduled to leave the base before 2012. According to the U.S. command in Baghdad, a memorandum of agreement has been drawn up and signed "outlining the areas that will continue to be used by Coalition forces." American and other troops have operated from Camp Ramadi since shortly after the invasion of Iraq in 2003. For several years, Ramadi was among the deadliest battlegrounds for American troops and was the heartland of the Sunni insurgency. Rocket and mortar attacks on the...

Maj just got the word, on Shep Smith show, scheduled to be announced tomorrow. All combat brigades to be out in 16 months. Real effect is immediate surrender of purpose. No commander is going to undertake any major mission knowing that, at the very longest, no US offensive military power will be in-country after next Spring, so why waste lives to gain something we soon will give away. Offensive operations will stop. Brigades will go into a useless, purely defensive mode. It's over. Our POTUS surrendered. About 3000 Americans volunteered to pay the ultimate price in Iraq so we could...

Iraq is willing to have the U.S. withdraw its troops and assume security for the country before the end of 2011, the departure date agreed to by former President George W. Bush, the Iraqi prime minister's spokesman said. Spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh made the comment Tuesday, the day before President Barack Obama and his senior commanders were to meet in Washington to discuss the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama promised during the campaign to withdraw all U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office. The new president said in his inaugural address Tuesday that he would "begin...

Incoming White House senior adviser David Axelrod said this morning that President-elect Barack Obama will fulfill his campaign promise and begin on Wednesday the process of withdrawing America forces from Iraq within 16 months. On Wednesday, Obama will call in his military commanders and ask them to come back with a plan for withdrawal.

WASHINGTON — Military commanders are drawing up plans for a faster withdrawal of American troops from Iraq in anticipation that President-elect Barack Obama will reject current proposals as too slow, Pentagon and military officials said Wednesday. The new plans would provide alternatives to a timetable drawn up by the top American commanders for Iraq to bring troops home more slowly than Mr. Obama promised during his presidential campaign. Those plans were described to Mr. Obama last month. The officials said that Mr. Obama had not requested the new plans, but that they were being prepared in response to public statements...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The Iraqi Presidency Council approved a resolution Sunday that will allow non-U.S. foreign troops to remain in Iraq after a U.N. mandate expires at year's end.

BAGHDAD — In September 2008, the President of the United States announced an American military drawdown in Iraq. The drawdown is a return on success, which follows the departure of the five “surge” brigades, the Marine Expeditionary Unit, two Marine Corps battalions, and a majority of the Coalition nations. These reductions have been made possible because security conditions on the ground improved dramatically, the Iraqi Securtiy Forces grew in capacity and capability, and the partnership between the Government of Iraq and the Coalition continues to improve. With the passing and ratification of the Strategic Framework Agreement and the Security Agreement,...

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has told US troops in Iraq that their mission there is in its "endgame".