A 19-month scenario was also presented to the president by military advisers at the White House's request, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, confirming an earlier report by US-based McClatchy Newspapers.
"We know they would like to do it in 16 months" but "we presented a range of options and the risks associated with it," said a second defense official, who also requested anonymity.
The newspaper group said the White House had received assessments of the risks associated with the 16, 19 and 23-month troop withdrawal options.
Obama warned in late January that he would have to make "difficult decisions" on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, following his maiden meeting as commander-in-chief at the Pentagon with military brass.
During his first week in the White House, he asked top military commanders to draw up plans for a "responsible" military drawdown in Iraq, where there are currently 142,000 US troops.
US military commanders in Iraq worry that a precipitous withdrawal would threaten security gains as Iraqis go to the polls in a series of elections this year.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has said that a 16-month drawdown was one of "various options" being evaluated, warning about a potential reversal in Iraq.
"Let me just say, I think our obligation is to give the president a range of options and the risks associated with each of those options," Gates said after meeting with Obama in late January. "And he will make the decision."
McClatchy Newspapers said Obama would likely announce his Iraq strategy by mid-March.
Obama is also preparing to send up to 30,000 US troops to Afghanistan, which he has called "the central front in our enduring struggle against terrorism and extremism."
Some 36,000 US troops, some part of a broader NATO force, fight a resurgent Taliban and Al-Qaeda there.
----------
Some US forces will face combat after Iraq pullout
By ANNE GEARAN, AP Military Writer Anne Gearan, Ap Military Writer – 2 hrs 56 mins ago
Officials: Most troops out of Iraq in 18 months Play Video AP – Officials: Most troops out of Iraq in 18 months
In this Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009 picture, U.S. soldiers stand guard after a road AP – …
WASHINGTON – Some of the U.S. forces likely to remain in Iraq after President Barack Obama fulfills his pledge to withdraw combat troops would still have a combat role fighting suspected terrorists, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
Obama plans to announce his withdrawal strategy as early as Friday. He will travel that day to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, the White House announced Wednesday.
While there, Obama is expected to outline a compromise withdrawal plan that leaves behind as many as 50,000 troops for cleanup and protection operations.
"The president will thank the Marines and their families for their incredible sacrifice, and will outline his plan for a way forward in Iraq," said a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the plan has not been announced.
Although most of the fighting forces would be withdrawn in the next 18 months, some troops could remain in Iraq for years to come. An agreement forged by the Bush administration with Iraqi officials requires removal of all U.S. forces by 2012.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said that a holdover, or "residual," force would number in the tens of thousands.
His spokesman said Wednesday that assuming there is such a force, it would have three primary functions: Training and helping Iraqi forces; protecting Americans and U.S. assets in Iraq and limited counterterrorism operations in which Iraqi forces would take the lead.
"I think a limited number of those that remain will conduct combat operations against terrorists, assisting Iraqi security forces," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said. "By and large you're talking about people who we would classify as enablers, support troops."
Obama campaigned on ending the Iraq war, and pledged to do so in 16 months. The withdrawal timetable he is expected to approve would stretch over 19 months, counting from Inauguration Day. That means more than 100,000 troops would leave over the coming 18 months.
The pullout would free up troops and resources for the war in Afghanistan, where Obama has said the threat to national security remains high.
"We are now carefully reviewing our policies in both wars, and I will soon announce a way forward in Iraq that leaves Iraq to its people and responsibly ends this war," Obama said in his address to Congress on Tuesday.
Gates, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen and others met with Obama at the White House on Wednesday. There was no announcement afterward.
"The president has not made a final decision about our force structure in Iraq going forward," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters Wednesday. "I don't think it would be a surprise, though, to anybody in this room that the president since his first full day in office has been working toward a solution that would responsibly draw down our troops in Iraq."
Morrell said he anticipates an announcement this week.
The role and makeup of residual forces has been unclear throughout last year's negotiations between the United States and Iraq, and during Obama's planning for an exit strategy.
Plans became only slightly clearer Wednesday. Morrell said many troops would be long-term advisers in such areas as intelligence, or would help the Iraqi military fill in gaps in equipment such as helicopters.
Although he said Iraq would still be considered a "war zone," Morrell said most remaining forces would not do anything that resembles fighting.
"But just because these troops would carry a sidearm, as all U.S. troops do in theater, that should not be confused with them having a combat mission," Morrell said.
"For example, U.S. personnel assigned to the Ministry of Finance may have a sidearm," he said, "but I doubt they'd consider themselves a combat force, and certainly wouldn't be equipped in that fashion to perform combat operations."
___
Associated Press writer Ben Feller contributed to this report.
----------
SCENARIOS-Risks of speedier U.S. troop pullout from Iraq
27 Feb 2009 11:44:56 GMT
Source: Reuters
Feb 27 (Reuters) - The United States will pull combat troops out of Iraq by Aug. 31, 2010, faster than foreseen in a bilateral security pact and also faster than some U.S. military commanders on the ground had hoped.
A large residual force will remain for limited counter-terrorism operations and for training Iraqi troops in a bid to prevent a slide back into the sectarian violence that swept Iraq after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
The following are some potential implications of the speedier withdrawal:
POWER VACUUM
Many of the 140,000 U.S. troops now in Iraq have in the past year become more like peacemakers or police than a combat force.
In particular, U.S. forces say they have been instrumental in stemming conflict between Iraqi soldiers or police loyal to the Shi'ite Muslim-led government in Baghdad and Kurdish peshmerga fighters.
Towns near the border of the largely autonomous northern Kurdistan region are disputed by Kurds and the central government. They could become flashpoints for future conflict.
Some analysts fear that Iraqi forces and peshmerga will both try to fill the power vacuum that a U.S. pullout will leave in places like oil-rich Kirkuk. The results could be bloody.
There is also a question mark as to whether local security forces can eradicate lingering pockets of insurgency, such as in the ethnically mixed northern city of Mosul and elsewhere, where Sunni Islamist groups like al Qaeda are making a stand.
MINORITIES
Washington has been able to exert some political influence on the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki simply because of its massive military presence in Iraq.
One area where U.S. officials say they have focused their efforts is to encourage the government to pay attention to the concerns and complaints of minority groups, such as Sunni Muslims who were dominant under Saddam Hussein.
When most of the U.S. soldiers have gone, Washington will be left with much less clout.
Some Sunni politicians are concerned that will allow Maliki, or whoever is in charge of the Iraqi government in August 2010, to ignore the demands of minority communities. That could lead to a resurgence in sectarian fighting.
WILL IRAQI FORCES BE READY?
Iraq's 600,000 police and soldiers have made tremendous strides in the past year, U.S. military officials say.
The peaceful nature of Jan. 31 provincial elections, which took place without a single major militant attack in the country, was a testament to their improving capabilities.
But the Iraqi security forces still lack what U.S. commanders call "combat enablers", such as logistics, air power, skilled mechanics and intelligence gathering and analysis.
It is possible that many of the 35,000-50,000 U.S. troops that will remain after August 2010 will fulfill some of those roles until the Iraqi army and police are fully able to support their own operations. (Writing by Michael Christie; Editing by Dominic Evans)
---------
Winding down the Iraq war will allow Obama to boost troop numbers in Afghanistan, which he has declared the central front in the U.S. fight against terrorism. He hopes it will also help him slash a ballooning $1.3 trillion budget deficit.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he would favor a modest U.S. military presence in Iraq even after the end of 2011 to assist Iraqi security forces if requested by Baghdad.
"My own view would be that we should be prepared to have some very modest-sized presence for training and helping them with their new equipment and providing perhaps intelligence support," he told reporters.
"We cannot sustain indefinitely a commitment that has put a strain on our military, and will cost the American people nearly a trillion dollars," he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment