U.S. on Track to Exit Iraqi Cities

[question everything]

Source: WSJ

BAGHDAD -- The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. Ray Odierno, said Monday that American combat troops are on track to leave Iraqi cities by the end of the month as scheduled, and he said the U.S. had closed or handed over 142 former American installations to the Iraqi government so far. Questions have lingered about the status of combat troops in still-volatile areas, like Mosul in the north of the country. But Gen. Odierno said American combat forces would pull back there too, thanks to improved security conditions across the country.

A small number of support troops will remain behind in some urban areas, as expected, he said. He said American forces will remain at 320 locations after a June 30 deadline for pulling U.S. combat troops out of Iraqi cities. At a joint press conference here with top Iraqi officials, Gen. Odierno said security conditions had improved enough to allow him to meet the timetable set out by a bilateral security agreement that went into effect at the first of this year. That agreement, which also stipulates that all U.S. troops should be out of Iraq by 2011, provided some wiggle room if security worsened and Iraqi officials wanted American forces to stay on.

U.S. troops staying behind in urban areas after June 30 will focus on non-combat related roles, such as training and advising. Gen. Odierno declined to provide the specific numbers of those troops. He said there are about 130,000 coalition troops in Iraq now, compared to 160,000 forces last September. He said the American troop drawdown would continue gradually throughout the year. U.S. President Barack Obama sped up the withdrawal timetable after he took office, saying earlier this year that American combat troops would leave Iraq by August 2010.



Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124507215789015077.html

[Turborama]

1. US commander: US to stick to Iraq withdrawal date

Source: AP

By CHELSEA J. CARTER and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA,

BAGHDAD – The top U.S. commander in Iraq said Monday that he remains "absolutely committed" to pulling back all combat troops from urban areas by the end of the month, as provided for in a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement.

Gen. Ray Odierno said a limited number of advisers and trainers will remain in the cities to work with Iraqi security forces, leaving unanswered questions about how many U.S. troops would remain and where they would be located. "We will not get into any specific numbers, but it is a very small number," Odierno told a joint news conference with key Iraqi officials.

Odierno said the pull back of combat troops would also extend to the northern city of Mosul, where Sunni insurgents still pose a threat.

Earlier this year, he said Mosul might be one of the cities where combat troops might remain. Odierno said violence and tensions in Mosul have declined. "I feel much more comfortable with the situation in Mosul now," Odierno said.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090615/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq

[SpartanDem]

2. Nice have some good news out of Iraq for a change

[Turborama]

4. Here's some more: U.S. commander sees fewer foreign fighters in Iraq

BAGHDAD, June 15 (Reuters) - Iraq has seen a significant fall in the number of foreign fighters arriving to battle U.S. and local forces, and efforts by neighbouring Syria are starting to bear fruit, U.S. General Ray Odierno said on Monday.

Foreign militants including members of Sunni Islamist al Qaeda have been drawn to Iraq since the U.S. military invaded in 2003. They have been blamed for some of the worst attacks on U.S. troops and Iraq's majority Shi'ite Muslim-led government.

"We have seen a significant decrease in the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq in the last eight to 10 months," Odierno, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, told a news conference alongside the Iraqi defence and interior ministers. "For the most part it has just been a trickle ... We have seen some fighters coming through Syria, but Syria has been taking some action over the last few weeks, so hopefully that will continue," Odierno said.

Violence in Iraq has dropped sharply in the past year. But insurgents still launch deadly attacks against U.S. forces and against civilians in a bid to spark renewed sectarian bloodshed and undermine Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's administration.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSLF637292

It might be optimistic spin, but at least there's no backtracking.

[Wednesdays]

3. K&R

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