Sunday, March 05, 2006
News RhetIraq: Troops out in 2007?
Source: Reuters
Quotes: From article titled, "US denies Iraq pullout plan"
The U.S. military denied British newspaper reports on Sunday that it planned to pull its forces from Iraq early next year, saying the stories, sourced to senior British defense officials, were "completely false".
Britain's Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Mirror said a plan for U.S. and British forces to withdraw in spring 2007 followed an acceptance by the two governments that the presence of foreign troops in Iraq was now the greatest obstacle to peace.
But General Peter Pace, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, denied the reports and said withdrawal of 133,000 U.S. troops would depend on the security situation in Iraq.
"We're going to do exactly what we said we were going to do, which is to make the assessment of the situation on the ground," Pace said in an interview on U.S. television.
"The commanders in theater will make the recommendations up the chain of command ... to the president for a decision about U.S. troop levels." He said the war was going "very, very well".
Earlier, the U.S. military spokesman in Iraq called the reports "completely false." Reiterating previous statements made by U.S. and Iraqi officials, Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson said any troop reduction will depend on the ability of the U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces to maintain order.
Quotes: From article titled, "US denies Iraq pullout plan"
The U.S. military denied British newspaper reports on Sunday that it planned to pull its forces from Iraq early next year, saying the stories, sourced to senior British defense officials, were "completely false".
Britain's Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Mirror said a plan for U.S. and British forces to withdraw in spring 2007 followed an acceptance by the two governments that the presence of foreign troops in Iraq was now the greatest obstacle to peace.
But General Peter Pace, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, denied the reports and said withdrawal of 133,000 U.S. troops would depend on the security situation in Iraq.
"We're going to do exactly what we said we were going to do, which is to make the assessment of the situation on the ground," Pace said in an interview on U.S. television.
"The commanders in theater will make the recommendations up the chain of command ... to the president for a decision about U.S. troop levels." He said the war was going "very, very well".
Earlier, the U.S. military spokesman in Iraq called the reports "completely false." Reiterating previous statements made by U.S. and Iraqi officials, Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson said any troop reduction will depend on the ability of the U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces to maintain order.
