4/22/2011Baghdad didn''t ask for extending US troops presence -- Mullen
BAGHDAD, The US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, said here Friday that Iraq did not ask for extending the U.S. military presence, or the postponement of US troops redeployment to post 2011.
Amiral Mullen made clear, in a joint press conference held in Baghdad this afternoon, that U.S. is willing to hold a strategic partnership with Iraq, asserting that U.S. military withdrawal will accelerate in the summer of 2011.
However, Mullen called on U.S. officials to make a quick decision on the full withdrawal or presence of U.S. military, making clear that if Iraqis want to change this plan, talks should start soon in order to avoid what he described as, "irrevocable decisions that we should make in the coming weeks on the military and logistical operations."
Mullen added, "I think that the coming weeks will be important because are some problems that I may call physical, and there is 47,000 combatants who are being prepared to move, and there will be a problem in transporting if Iraq was late on making a decision." Mullen said that, "we will see late this year an increased pace of troop withdrawal as well as the volume of this withdrawal which will hit the highest level."
He also revealed that he informed the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki about his willingness, "to establish a strategic partnership with Iraq that will last in the future." On the Iraqi troop status, Mullen spoke highly of these troops, saying that, "they are well-placed," while noting that he attended a military drill held by the troops, though he said that, "Iraqi troops need further support and military training."
Additionally, Mullen criticized the decision made by Moqtada Al-Sadr, leader of the Sadrist trend, in which he threated again of a return of Al-Mahdi army, adding that, "this poses a threat to Iraq's security, and it is an irresponsible statement," according to his own words.
On the status in Libya, Mullen said that the air raids launched by the coalition forces undermined between 30 and 40 percent of Libyan ground forces, though he admitted that the dispute is heading toward a state of stalemate and parity.
Mullen also disclosed that US looks forward to changing the Gadhafi's regime at the hands of Libyans themselves, though he stressed that, "our troops will finish its tasks in Libya till we rout the troops of the Libyan regime." Mullen said changing regime through an external act, "as we saw in Iraq and Balkan states is a very difficult position compared to when it comes from inside like in Tunisia and Egypt."
He added that, "there are domestic problems and changes taking place in Syria, Yemen, Egypt, Tunisia and Libya in spite of differences about the causes of change, though the peoples of these countries have a common goal, which is change their regimes, but it is difficult to adopt a single policy toward what takes place inside these countries."
Mullen also said that, "U.S. is interested in boosting its ties in the region, but mixture is of a big magnitude and status in Libya comes high on our agenda." Mullen arrived to the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on Thursday evening on an official visit, and held a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki.
Mullen pre-empted his meeting with Al-Maliki by asserting that, "if Iraqi leaders and people want to set a different date for U.S. troop withdrawal, they should start a serious dialogue on this," while Al-Maliki said that, "our armed forces, and Iraqi security apparatuses are capable of shouldering their respective responsibilities, preserving security and operating professionally and within the national framework."
Al-Maliki added that his government will continue to boost its security capabilities, and combat potentials through equipping Iraqi troops with state-of-the-art weapons and equipment.
U.S. reiterated its plans on withdrawing 47,000, the remaining portion of a 170,000 force, and it is expected for the pace of pullout to increase by the end of this summer or the start of next autumn.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali Al-Dabagh said, in a statement, that the main goal behind Mullen's visit is inspect the U.S. troops in Iraq, and check the troop withdrawal preparations by the end of this year according to the security agreements concluded between the two countries.
Al-Dabagh added that the meeting between Al-Maliki and Mullen did not tackle the topic of extending the U.S. military presence in the country by the end of 2011.
He concluded by saying that the government was earlier briefed on Mullen's visit, downplaying that U.S. did not make an announcement about it.
