U.S. Troops And Iraq Departure

    From Reuters:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States could start withdrawing forces from Iraq this year if the additional troops being sent to Baghdad reduce violence significantly, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Friday.

"If these operations actually work you could begin to see a lightening of the U.S. footprint both in Baghdad and Iraq itself," Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee

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     You know that this all depends on the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki, keeping his promises and holding up to his end of the bargain with President Bush. The Democrats were quick to point out, rightfully so, that promises from the past have been broken and that it will more than likely be no different this time.

Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI): "Look at the track record of the Iraqi government in meeting some of its past benchmarks and promises."

   And then we have this from the AFP:

A senior ally of radical Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr warned that thousands of the planned 21,500 extra US troops en route for the war-torn nation would "go home in coffins."

"The American people have to prevent their sons from coming to Iraq or they may return in coffins," threatened Sheikh Abdel Razzaq al-Nadawi, a senior official in Sadr's movement, slamming the planned US troop increase.

   The Iraqi Prime Minister will no doubt bow down to the Sadr before he will bow down to Bush. Of course he will not say that publicly but he will show it by letting things go on the same way that they have been going. The Prime Minister's main worry is not Bush or the U.S., but it is the other groups that may kill him if he doesn't co-operate by being lenient.

 

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