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Hawaii Stryker tour in Iraq might shorten

Nov-24-2007 » Filed Under: 2/25 SBCT

Doubtful, but possible - that's the bottom line from the following story.

By William Cole, Honolulu Advertiser

HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE — The top U.S. military commander in the Pacific said it's possible Hawai'i's Stryker brigade won't have to be in Iraq for a full 15 months after he returned upbeat from a stop in the country.

"I think it's feasible (that it could be slightly shorter)," Adm. Timothy J. Keating said yesterday after completing a six-day trip that included a visit to see U.S. military aid to Bangladesh after a devastating cyclone struck the nation last week.

It was Keating's first visit to Iraq after becoming head of U.S. Pacific Command at Camp Smith in March.

He cautioned that his optimism for the Stryker brigade's time in Iraq shouldn't be taken as a guarantee.

"If I were in the Stryker brigade, I'd plan on being (in Iraq) for 15 months," Keating told reporters after returning to Hawai'i. "But I'd hope that officials in the (Defense Department) and Central Command and in the embassy in Iraq would be working with our Iraqi (counterparts) to try and whittle a little off the end of that."

Asked whether conditions were improving, Keating said, "The reports I got and the predictions to which I have some access, are very, very cautiously optimistic."

The Stryker brigade's 4,000 soldiers are expected to start leaving in coming days for the north Baghdad area and Taji Air Base about 10 miles to the north of the capital.

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