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US Speeds Up Iraq Withdrawal

By the Associated Press

Posted Sep 30, 2009 7:10 AM CDT

(AP) – The United States is speeding up its military withdrawal from Iraq, sending 4,000 more troops home next month, top commander Ray Odierno will announce today. That'll bring the total number of troops in the country down to 120,000 by the end of October. "We have already begun deliberately drawing down our forces—without sacrificing security," Odierno says in a statement he'll deliver to the House.

In the statement, he expresses cautious optimism and outlines key challenges as US troops prepare to end combat missions, including:

  • Security is still inadequate, as evidenced by a pair of truck bombings last month at Iraq's finance and foreign ministries in Baghdad.
  • A system of government that is accepted across ethnic, sectarian, and regional lines has yet to be agreed on.
  • The government hasn't found jobs for all members of the Sons of Iraq, the former Sunni insurgents who helped end the war.

US troops are served Arabic coffee at an Iraqi bazaar at a a US base in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009.
US troops are served Arabic coffee at an Iraqi bazaar at a a US base in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009.   (NABIL AL-JURANI)
In this Dec. 11, 2008 file photo, U.S. military police, top, monitor Iraqi police as they practice house clearing during training in Mahmoudiya, Iraq.
In this Dec. 11, 2008 file photo, U.S. military police, top, monitor Iraqi police as they practice house clearing during training in Mahmoudiya, Iraq.   (AP Photo/Dusan Vranic, File)
In this June 30, 2009 file photo U.S. Gen. Ray Odierno talks to reporters at a press conference in Baghdad, Iraq.
In this June 30, 2009 file photo U.S. Gen. Ray Odierno talks to reporters at a press conference in Baghdad, Iraq.   (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, file)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 11 comments
Nwambe
Sep 30, 2009 12:44 PM CDT
It doesn't quite work like that - Bases need to be kept, materiel and men need to be transported home, that doesn't happen in four months if you've ever been in the military. Hell, it takes four years to get a new bulletproof vest approved.
nick
Sep 30, 2009 12:33 PM CDT
Here's my plan for withdrawing the remaining 120,000 troops: bring 30,000 home in each of the next four freaking months!
0001tr
Sep 30, 2009 12:33 PM CDT
OTHER THAN PROFIT (to a few)...is there is evidence we had any business there to begin with..GET OUR PEOPLE HOME !!!!!!!!

Copyright 2012 Newser, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.

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