WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. military officials are narrowing the range of Iraq strategy options and appear to be focusing on reducing the U.S. combat role in 2008 while increasing training of Iraqi forces, a senior military official told The Associated Press on Monday.
The military has not yet developed a plan for a substantial withdrawal of forces next year. But officials are laying the groundwork for possible overtures to Turkey and Jordan on using their territory to move some troops and equipment out of Iraq, the official said. The main exit would remain Kuwait, but additional routes would make it easier and more secure for U.S. troops leaving western and northern Iraq.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because internal deliberations are ongoing, emphasized that the discussions do not prejudge decisions yet to be made by President Bush. Those decisions include how long to maintain the current U.S. troop buildup and when to make the transition to a larger Iraqi combat role.
It is widely anticipated that the five extra Army brigades that were sent to the Baghdad area this year will be withdrawn by late next summer. But it is far less clear whether the Bush administration will follow that immediately with additional drawdowns, as many Democrats in Congress are advocating.
Full Story Here:
US Military Looks to Reduce Role in Iraq
And this is as it should be, but I do have one really serious suggestion for the Command in Iraq and the DoD as a whole, if you plan on equipping the Iraqi Army and Police with another 190K some odd weapons, get the money out front, that way if the damn guns get stolen, they are Iraqs problem and not ours and we don’t have Generals running around looking like idiots that can’t keep track of the logistical support they are handing out helter skelter…
It’s time folks, it’s past time, the Iraqis can either stand and fight for their nation and their freedom and move themselves into the 21st century or they can remain jihad fighters with 7th century beliefs and modern weaponry as they continue to wage their sectarian battles, or as I prefer to call it, civil war…
In any case, it’s their nation, it’s their business and we need to step back and let them take control of their destiny…
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Outside of carpet bombing, or nuking it, they are out of strategy options it would seem.
That’s their way of saying just that IMO, they’ve page turned and turned until they have reached the end of their war fighting manuals.
Of course Bush is probably trying to doodle in some more x’ and o’s on the page that says “this page left blank intentionally” with his fist around a jumbo pencil and his tongue going from side to side.