[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Sign-in] [Mail] [Setup] [Help]
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
|
War, War, War See other War, War, War Articles Title: US: We're out of Iraq by January The US is abandoning plans to keep troops in Iraq past an end-of-year withdrawal deadline. The decision to pull out fully by January will effectively end more than eight years of US involvement in the Iraq war, despite concerns about its security forces and the potential for instability. The decision ends months of hand-wringing by US officials over whether to stick to a December 31 withdrawal deadline that was set in 2008 or negotiate a new security agreement to ensure that gains made and more than 4,400 American military lives lost since March 2003 do not go to waste. In recent months, Washington has been discussing with Iraqi leaders the possibility of several thousand American troops remaining to continue training Iraqi security forces. A Pentagon spokesman said no final decision had been reached about the US training relationship with the Iraqi government, but a senior Obama administration official in Washington confirmed that all American troops would leave Iraq except for around 160 active-duty soldiers attached to the US embassy. A senior US military official confirmed the departure and said the withdrawal could allow future, but limited US military training missions in Iraq if requested. Both officials spoke anonymously because of the sensitivity of the issue. Throughout the discussions, Iraqi leaders have adamantly refused to give US troops immunity from prosecution in Iraqi courts, and the Americans have refused to stay without it. Iraq's leadership has been split on whether it wanted American forces to stay. Some argued the further training and US help was vital, particularly to protect Iraq's airspace and gather security intelligence. But others have deeply opposed any American troop presence, including Shiite militiamen who have threatened attacks on any American forces who remain. Prime minister Nouri Maliki has told US military officials that he does not have the votes in parliament to provide immunity to the American trainers, the US military official said. A White House spokesman, Tommy Vietor, said discussions with Iraq about the security relationship between the two countries next year were continuing. Pentagon press secretary George Little said the US remained "committed to keeping our agreement with the Iraqi government to remove all of our troops by the end of this year. At the same time we're building a comprehensive partnership with Iraq under the Strategic Framework Agreement including a robust security relationship, and discussions with the Iraqis about the nature of that relationship are ongoing." Copyright © 2011 The Press Association. All rights reserved. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
(Edited)
With an embassy larger than the Vatican, I really doubt that. We do not have any reason to be anywhere other than our border with Mexico. With MDRTB rampant in the border area, as well as Chagas, lets stop the flow of illegals infecting our country before it is too late.
..................... If a man has nothing that he is willing to die for, then he has nothing worth living for.
I don't doubt that many US soldiers will be pulled out, especially in January - good pre election photo ops. The defense contractors ( retired US military) will be instructed to try to hold the line until the November elections.
|
||
|
[Home]
[Headlines]
[Latest Articles]
[Latest Comments]
[Post]
[Sign-in]
[Mail]
[Setup]
[Help]
|
||