Pentagon Having Second Thoughts On Iraq Withdrawal

[High_Gravity]

Pentagon Having Second Thoughts On Iraq Withdrawal

WASHINGTON — Eight months shy of its deadline for pulling the last American soldier from Iraq and closing the door on an 8-year war, the Pentagon is having second thoughts.

Reluctant to say it publicly, officials fear a final pullout in December could create a security vacuum, offering an opportunity for power grabs by antagonists in an unresolved and simmering Arab-Kurd dispute, a weakened but still active al-Qaida or even an adventurous neighbor such as Iran.

The U.S. wants to keep perhaps several thousand troops in Iraq, not to engage in combat but to guard against an unraveling of a still-fragile peace. This was made clear during Defense Secretary Robert Gates' visit Thursday and Friday in which he and the top U.S. commander in Iraq talked up the prospect of an extended U.S. stay.

How big a military commitment might the U.S. be willing to make beyond 2011? "It just depends on what the Iraqis want and what we're able to provide and afford," Gates said Thursday at a U.S. base in the northern city of Mosul where U.S. soldiers advise and mentor Iraqi forces. He said the U.S. would consider a range of possibilities, from staying an extra couple of years to remaining in Iraq as permanent partners.

Less clear is whether the Iraqis will ask for any extension.

Powerful political winds are blowing against such a move even as U.S. officials assert that Iraqi leaders – Sunni, Shiite and Kurd – are saying privately they see a need for help developing their air defenses and other military capabilities. U.S. training of Iraqi forces up to now has focused on combating an internal enemy, including al-Qaida, rather than external threats.

If the Iraqis choose not to ask for more help, then Dec. 31 probably will mark the end of U.S. military intervention that was so close to failing when Gates became Pentagon chief in December 2006. He once said the U.S. faced the prospect of a "strategic disaster" at the heart of the Middle East.

Meghan O'Sullivan, a top adviser on Iraq to President George W. Bush when his administration negotiated the 2008 security agreement that set upcoming deadline for a final U.S. military withdrawal, said time is too short to negotiate a full reworking of that legal pact.

"The question is, can both sides agree on something more modest but which still provides an adequate legal basis for a smaller number of American troops to stay in Iraq, with quite defined missions?" she said in an email exchange last week. O'Sullivan is a professor of international affairs at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School.

Pentagon Having Second Thoughts On Iraq Withdrawal

 

[Jroc]

Why do we have to with draw completely from Iraq? makes no sense to me, we are still in friken Europe, Korea, Japan. We should keep a base there as a deterrent for the Iranians.

 

[Wicked Jester]

Pentagon Having Second Thoughts On Iraq Withdrawal

WASHINGTON — Eight months shy of its deadline for pulling the last American soldier from Iraq and closing the door on an 8-year war, the Pentagon is having second thoughts.

Reluctant to say it publicly, officials fear a final pullout in December could create a security vacuum, offering an opportunity for power grabs by antagonists in an unresolved and simmering Arab-Kurd dispute, a weakened but still active al-Qaida or even an adventurous neighbor such as Iran.

The U.S. wants to keep perhaps several thousand troops in Iraq, not to engage in combat but to guard against an unraveling of a still-fragile peace. This was made clear during Defense Secretary Robert Gates' visit Thursday and Friday in which he and the top U.S. commander in Iraq talked up the prospect of an extended U.S. stay.

How big a military commitment might the U.S. be willing to make beyond 2011? "It just depends on what the Iraqis want and what we're able to provide and afford," Gates said Thursday at a U.S. base in the northern city of Mosul where U.S. soldiers advise and mentor Iraqi forces. He said the U.S. would consider a range of possibilities, from staying an extra couple of years to remaining in Iraq as permanent partners.

Less clear is whether the Iraqis will ask for any extension.

Powerful political winds are blowing against such a move even as U.S. officials assert that Iraqi leaders – Sunni, Shiite and Kurd – are saying privately they see a need for help developing their air defenses and other military capabilities. U.S. training of Iraqi forces up to now has focused on combating an internal enemy, including al-Qaida, rather than external threats.

If the Iraqis choose not to ask for more help, then Dec. 31 probably will mark the end of U.S. military intervention that was so close to failing when Gates became Pentagon chief in December 2006. He once said the U.S. faced the prospect of a "strategic disaster" at the heart of the Middle East.

Meghan O'Sullivan, a top adviser on Iraq to President George W. Bush when his administration negotiated the 2008 security agreement that set upcoming deadline for a final U.S. military withdrawal, said time is too short to negotiate a full reworking of that legal pact.

"The question is, can both sides agree on something more modest but which still provides an adequate legal basis for a smaller number of American troops to stay in Iraq, with quite defined missions?" she said in an email exchange last week. O'Sullivan is a professor of international affairs at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School.

Pentagon Having Second Thoughts On Iraq Withdrawal

Just one more thing the teleprompter user is gonna have to explain away during the '12 campaign.

One thing is for sure, that boys got some serious 'splainin' to do!

 

[High_Gravity]

Why do we have to with draw completely from Iraq? makes no sense to me, we are still in friken Europe, Korea, Japan. We should keep a base there as a deterrent for the Iranians.

Well those countries have asked us to stay, the Iraqis hate us and want us to get the fuck out.

 

[PLYMCO_PILGRIM]

We need someone who can be this I guess

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slOWroJlmbs&feature=related]YouTube - decider[/ame]

"i'm the decider"

 

[old navy]

Sen. McCain said during the campaign that we may be there awhile. He was nailed to the wall.

Reality sucks and governing is harder than campaigning.

 

[Trajan]

yes, the plan was always to leave behind enough men and material to aid the iraqis.....

I always thought approx 20k would do it...but....

 

[uscitizen]

Of course the pentagon does not want their funding decreased.

 

[Trajan]

Of course the pentagon does not want their funding decreased.

for iraqi stamped money they won't, they already have in other areas.

 

[bigrebnc1775]

And this comes as a surprise?

 

[Trajan]

whats not surprising it the law of unintended consequences, if one believes that iraq had anything to do with the sweep of some of the more egregious dictators in the ME going down, then we have fucked ourselves.

Now, right now, our taking down saddam may have blown up in our faces.

If the iraqi 'democracy' doesn't work and even in this anti dictator climate, an ME benevolent dictator[ship] always has a chance ala Jordan.

The mish mash of sunni shia issues has not proven to be problematic YET.

If Assad get tossed, the consternation and tectonic shift will be HUGE.

The Saudis who are quietly praying that Assad survives would be in great danger.

 

[uscitizen]

It all still turns out just as I predicted before we even invaded.

And this is truth.
I did not have all the exact dates, names, etc. But my overall prediction has been spot on.

 

[Missourian]

It all still turns out just as I predicted before we even invaded.

And this is truth.
I did not have all the exact dates, names, etc. But my overall prediction has been spot on.

Link?

 

[Wiseacre]

The pentagon says whatever Obama wants 'em to say. Otherwise their career is kaput. I don't think there's a single person in uniform that doesn't want to get the hell out of there asap.

 

[uscitizen]

It all still turns out just as I predicted before we even invaded.

And this is truth.
I did not have all the exact dates, names, etc. But my overall prediction has been spot on.

Link?

Sorry but the politics.com board I made the prediction on folded and reopened as something entirely different a few years later.
Some of the later ones can be found on justplainpolitics.com though.
Those mostly involve the finiancial failure and recession which also so far has hit right on my predictions.

 

[Trajan]

It all still turns out just as I predicted before we even invaded.

And this is truth.
I did not have all the exact dates, names, etc. But my overall prediction has been spot on.

as to what exactly? the occupation force...?

 

[Jos]

RICHMOND, Va. — More than 800 members of the Virginia National Guard are being deployed to Iraq for more than a year.

Units based in Hampton Roads, Fredericksburg and Christiansburg will begin federal active duty June 1. They’ll train for 45 to 60 days at Camp Atterbury, Ind., before heading to Iraq.

More than 800 Virginia National Guard members to deploy to Iraq - The Washington Post

 

[Caroljo]

Why do we have to with draw completely from Iraq? makes no sense to me, we are still in friken Europe, Korea, Japan. We should keep a base there as a deterrent for the Iranians.

Well those countries have asked us to stay, the Iraqis hate us and want us to get the fuck out.

Not all of them...my son's been there 3 times, and he said many of the citizens were very helpful, wanted to know how to join the american army, the kids were always around wanting them to play, women would bring them food on guard duty. Many Iraqi's worked right on the bases with them. He just felt very sorry for them...with all the extremists in the area, he never knew if he's see someone again - the good ones are the ones that get blown up. It's very hard to see your 26 yr old son crying over what he saw over there, out of frustration of not being able to do enough to help.

 

[Sallow]

Why do we have to with draw completely from Iraq? makes no sense to me, we are still in friken Europe, Korea, Japan. We should keep a base there as a deterrent for the Iranians.

We need to get out of Iraq..and those places you mentioned as well.

 

[Wiseacre]

Why do we have to with draw completely from Iraq? makes no sense to me, we are still in friken Europe, Korea, Japan. We should keep a base there as a deterrent for the Iranians.

Well those countries have asked us to stay, the Iraqis hate us and want us to get the fuck out.

Not all of them...my son's been there 3 times, and he said many of the citizens were very helpful, wanted to know how to join the american army, the kids were always around wanting them to play, women would bring them food on guard duty. Many Iraqi's worked right on the bases with them. He just felt very sorry for them...with all the extremists in the area, he never knew if he's see someone again - the good ones are the ones that get blown up. It's very hard to see your 26 yr old son crying over what he saw over there, out of frustration of not being able to do enough to help.

Please extend our gratitude to your son for his service, sincerely hope he comes home soon and safe.

Look, I don't like being in Iraq any more than the next guy, but what'll happen if we leave before they're ready to defend themselves? You think Iran wouldn't take over by any means necessary? We gave those people a shot at liberty and democracy, and we paid a heavy price to do it. Maybe they won't make it anyway, but in view of the situation across the entire middle east, it's a good thing to have an example of a democracy right in the middle of the muddle. I'm guessing there are a lot of young people over there in the entire muslim world that want what Iraq's got. Let's hope the sacrifices we made were worth it.