February 22, 2010Plans for US withdrawal from Iraq unlikely to change: Gates
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Monday the drawdown of US troops in Iraq was moving ahead as planned, barring a dramatic "deterioration" in conditions in Iraq.
Asked about contingency plans to slow down the pace of withdrawal if necessary, Gates told reporters: "Before we would consider recommending anything like that we would have to see a pretty considerable deterioration in the situation in Iraq and we don't see that, certainly at this point."
The defense secretary's comments came after the US commander in Iraq, General Ray Odierno, said he was optimistic US forces would be reduced to a target of 50,000 by September as planned.
Odierno, however, said he had prepared back-up plans to leave more forces in place if political tensions after the country's March 7 vote threatened to trigger serious violence.
The US military now has about 96,000 troops in place and plans to pull out all combat forces by the end of August, leaving behind a 50,000-strong force.
"I fully expect us to be down to approximately 50,000 by September 1st," Odierno told a press conference on Monday morning.
He said the drawdown was ahead of schedule, as initial plans had called for about 115,000 troops at this point instead of the roughly 96,000 now on the ground.
Under a security agreement with Iraq, the United States is required to withdraw all its troops from the country by the end of 2011.
Odierno said a smaller US force might remain in Iraq after the 2011 deadline as the Baghdad government will likely need help with newly-purchased American weapons and equipment.
"Iraq continues to buy significant amounts of military material from the United States," he said.
"They've committed to M1A1 tanks, they've committed to helicopters, they committed to other things," he said.
With US military hardware bought by Baghdad due to arrive in coming months, Odierno said there will be "some requirement for us to continue to coordinate and help them to bring those systems on board" after 2011.
The general said he expected that would require a "small contingent" to train and advise the Iraqis, depending on what Baghdad requested.
"But that would be a decision made by the government of Iraq," he said.
US officials previously have left open the possibility of retaining a smaller US force in Iraq after the 2011 deadline if the Iraqi government asks for assistance.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Monday the drawdown of US troops in Iraq was moving ahead as planned, barring a dramatic "deterioration" in conditions in Iraq.
Asked about contingency plans to slow down the pace of withdrawal if necessary, Gates told reporters: "Before we would consider recommending anything like that we would have to see a pretty considerable deterioration in the situation in Iraq and we don't see that, certainly at this point."
The defense secretary's comments came after the US commander in Iraq, General Ray Odierno, said he was optimistic US forces would be reduced to a target of 50,000 by September as planned.
Odierno, however, said he had prepared back-up plans to leave more forces in place if political tensions after the country's March 7 vote threatened to trigger serious violence.
The US military now has about 96,000 troops in place and plans to pull out all combat forces by the end of August, leaving behind a 50,000-strong force.
"I fully expect us to be down to approximately 50,000 by September 1st," Odierno told a press conference on Monday morning.
He said the drawdown was ahead of schedule, as initial plans had called for about 115,000 troops at this point instead of the roughly 96,000 now on the ground.
Under a security agreement with Iraq, the United States is required to withdraw all its troops from the country by the end of 2011.
Odierno said a smaller US force might remain in Iraq after the 2011 deadline as the Baghdad government will likely need help with newly-purchased American weapons and equipment.
"Iraq continues to buy significant amounts of military material from the United States," he said.
"They've committed to M1A1 tanks, they've committed to helicopters, they committed to other things," he said.
With US military hardware bought by Baghdad due to arrive in coming months, Odierno said there will be "some requirement for us to continue to coordinate and help them to bring those systems on board" after 2011.
The general said he expected that would require a "small contingent" to train and advise the Iraqis, depending on what Baghdad requested.
"But that would be a decision made by the government of Iraq," he said.
US officials previously have left open the possibility of retaining a smaller US force in Iraq after the 2011 deadline if the Iraqi government asks for assistance.
