. Military Space News .
Time for US to leave Iraq? Not so fast, say analysts

Britain cannot sustain military Afghan, Iraq commitments: chief
Britain's armed forces cannot maintain their level of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq indefinitely, the head of the armed forces said Sunday. And the international commitment in Afghanistan would have to last "decades" if it was to be successful, he said. Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the chief of the defence staff, confirmed British troop numbers in Basra, southern Iraq, would come down during 2009. Britain currently has around 7,800 soldiers based in Afghanistan, a figure soon set to rise to 8,000. It has another 4,000 in Iraq. "We are structured and resourced for a certain level of commitment on an enduring basis," Stirrup told BBC television regarding the dual commitment. "And we're doing more than that at the moment. It doesn't mean that we can't do what we're doing. But it means we can't keep on doing it indefinitely. "So we do need to get ourselves back down to a more sustainable operational tempo as soon as we can. "And subject to delivering success on current operations, that has been and remains my top priority." Troop numbers in Afghanistan would come down "during the course of next year," Stirrup said. Prime Minister Gordon Brown had previously announced that they would be cut to 2,500 this year, depending on conditions on the ground. British troops have been engaged in some of the fiercest fighting in Afghanistan against the insurgency waged by the Islamist Taliban. A total of 109 British troops have died in Afghanistan since operations began in late 2001. "The international community, I think, if the enterprise is to be successful, will need to be engaged for decades," Stirrup said. "What I am talking about is across the full spectrum of effect in terms of reconstruction, governance, finance and the economy and so on. "In terms of the military, we will be there for a few years. But the key for us is to develop the Afghan indigenous forces -- the Afghan National Army -- to the stage where they can take on the lead for these responsibilities themselves."
by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) July 13, 2008
US President George W. Bush long has vowed that the United States would leave Iraq if asked by Baghdad's leadership, but now that the request has been made, Bush is in no hurry to exit, analysts say.

Iraqi leaders have pressed for a withdrawal timetable as part of negotiations over the US military role beyond December 31, when the UN mandate which provides the legal basis for a foreign troop presence in Iraq expires.

The request was made first by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who last Monday said he was seeking a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops as part of a security agreement, which both sides were striving to conclude by July.

National security advisor Muwaffaq al-Rubaie followed on Tuesday by asserting Iraq would reject any security pact if it does not give a specific date for a complete withdrawal of foreign troops.

For Bush -- who said on May 24, 2007: "We are there at the invitation of the Iraqi government. ... If they were to say 'leave,' we would leave" -- it would appear Iraq's request for a US departure date has been made loud and clear.

But the White House has remained opposed to any set date for US pullout on the basis it could hand insurgents a victory, resisting attempts by foes in Congress to impose a withdrawal date.

The White House reacted to Maliki's comments by saying it was not negotiating a "hard date" for a US withdrawal from Iraq but it did not rule out discussions on "time-frames" with Baghdad.

Eventually, the administration will have "basically no choice" but to exit, according to Iraq expert Anthony Cordesman at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"Iraq is a sovereign nation. The United States has repeated that point constantly. This is a government in Iraq that makes its own choices, and the US will have basically no choice," he said.

However, he warned that Iraq's leaders may not be as steadfast as they appear in calling for a withdrawal date.

"We ought to be very careful not to read too much into a report or an agreement nobody has seen, with conditions which may be surprisingly vague," Cordesman said.

A departure of combat troops, he stressed, could still leave behind large numbers of advisors to help in the fight against Al-Qaeda.

The Bush administration is playing on this uncertainty by publicly assuring that Iraq's call for a withdrawal date indicates an improvement of the situation, while sticking by its opposition to any fixed pullout schedule, experts say.

The White House has indicated it is open to what spokeswoman Dana Perino has called "aspirational time frames," but has repeated that any decisions must be based on conditions on the ground.

In a further sign that the two sides are far from a deal, a Washington Post report Sunday suggested the negotiations to conclude a so-called Status of Forces Agreement between the United States and Iraq by the time Bush leaves office have been abandoned, effectively leaving talks over the US military presence in Iraq to the next US administration.

The two governments were now working on a "bridge" document that would allow basic US military operations to continue beyond the expiration of a United Nations mandate at the end of the year, the Post reported, citing unnamed senior US officials.

Behind the scenes, US officials acknowledge that Iraqi leaders are ramping up calls for control of their own affairs because Iraqi sovereignty is a key campaign issue ahead of provincial polls in October.

The radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has likened any long-term US military presence to "eternal slavery."

Bush, who has often said he envisions a prolonged military presence in Iraq citing the South Korean situation as an example, was not being sincere when he said the United States would leave if asked, according to analyst Lawrence Korb, former assistant secretary of defense to president Ronald Reagan.

"He said it but he didn't mean it, he never thought they would ask for it," Korb said, adding it is unlikely, in his view, that anything more than a "target date" could be proposed before Bush leaves office in January 2009.

"Basically what Bush is going to do and Maliki is going to do is kick the can down the road to see who gets elected," Korb said.

Community
Email This Article
Comment On This Article

Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
Iraq: The first technology war of the 21st century



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


US contractor in Iraq accused of electrocution deaths
Washington (AFP) July 11, 2008
The biggest US military contractor in Iraq, KBR, was steeped in another scandal Friday as lawmakers, families and experts accused it of recklessly causing the electrocution deaths of US soldiers.







  • Worries over US fleet to dominate talks in Buenos Aires
  • Sino-Japan Relations Thaw In Wake Of Sazanami Naval Visit
  • Walker's World: Why not scrap the G8?
  • Bush, Sarkozy fought fiercely at last G8: Abe

  • Israeli jets use Iraqi airspace to practice Iran strike: website
  • Ahmadinejad On His Way Out
  • Iran Warns It Would Destroy Israel And 32 US Bases If Attacked
  • Indian govt seeks allies ahead of confidence vote

  • Despite tests, Iran missile path uncertain: analysts
  • Successful Hungarian Missile Trials With Gripen
  • Real Or Not Iranian Missile Tests Must Stop Demands US
  • Raytheon Delivers 3,000th AIM-9X To Warfighter

  • Russian Air Defense Woes A Growing Concern
  • Analysis: U.S., Czech strike missile deal
  • BMD Focus: Poles block base -- Part 1
  • Follow-up Czech-US anti-missile deal completed: minister

  • Bombardier launches 'green' aircraft programme
  • Boeing Projects Global Shift To New, More Efficient Airplanes
  • EU lawmakers force CO2 caps on airlines
  • EU airline pollution plan could spark trade wars: industry officials

  • PicoSAR Flying On The Camcopter S-100 UAV
  • Second GCS Shelter Delivered To BAE For Herti UAV Programme
  • First Fully Autonomous Flight For AVE Drone
  • ISAF requests more spy planes from NATO

  • US contractor in Iraq accused of electrocution deaths
  • Dogs of War: Immunity hype
  • Time for US to leave Iraq? Not so fast, say analysts
  • US, Iraq still aiming for troop deal this year: officials

  • NGC And Oshkosh JLTV Undergoes Successful Armor Testing
  • Pentagon given stricter standards for cluster munitions
  • SELEX Galileo And BAE Systems To Provide Thermal Sights For Soldiers
  • Raytheon Delivers 100th AESA Radar For Super Hornets And Growlers

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement