Obama presented with troop withdrawal options
WASHINGTON, (AFP)
The White House is weighing several options for US troop withdrawals
from Iraq, with timetables ranging from President Barack Obama's
campaign pledge to remove all combat troops within 16 months to a
23-month option, a defense official said Friday.
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 a "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.
|