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Iraq withdrawal blueprint slowly takes shape

Aug- 9-2005 » Filed Under: General Military

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By Robert H. Reid, Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The broad outlines are emerging of what a top U.S. commander calls a “fairly substantial” reduction in U.S. troop strength in Iraq next year, as the U.S.-led coalition gradually hands over security responsibility to newly trained Iraqi forces.

But the plan — contingent on political progress in Iraq, improvements in Iraqi forces and an absence of growth in the insurgency — will leave a sizable American military presence in the most dangerous parts of this country.

The drawdown will likely begin slowly in Shiite and Kurdish areas of the country that are largely untouched by the Sunni Arab insurgency. Only when the insurgency declines substantially are sizable numbers of U.S. troops likely to leave Sunni Triangle flashpoints.

That means the Bush administration could find itself facing the November 2006 midterm elections with American forces still fighting and dying in Iraq.

U.S. officials have been speaking publicly about the possibility of a troop cutback next year as the Iraqis scramble to finalize their new constitution and plan for elections in December.

That would give Iraq its first fully constitutional government since the 2003 collapse of Saddam Hussein’s regime.

At the same time, the Bush administration is giving a renewed push toward training and upgrading a credible Iraqi force capable of assuming a greater role in security and bearing the brunt of the fighting. [...]


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