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NEWS ABOUT: troop withdrawal

Iraq Troop Levels to Hold Steady Under Bush

But numbers will increase in Afghanistan

(Newser) - Troop levels in Iraq won't change until after George Bush leaves office, the president will announce in a speech today, leaving further withdrawals as an immediate matter for his successor —although Bush will oversee what amounts to a transfer of US troops from Iraq to Afghanistan. The announcement likely... More »

Pentagon May Prevent Petraeus From Testifying

General's views may not gel with brass' assessment

(Newser) - When David Petraeus next comes to Washington, he won’t be speaking on Capitol Hill, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Pentagon officials have denied requests for more hearings with the Iraq commander because they’re not sure they’ll agree with his recommendations. Petraeus has been criticized for being too... More »

US Will Be Out of Iraq by 2011, PM Says

Maliki firm on 'fixed date,' though US says deal isn't finalized

(Newser) - The US has agreed to a timeline that forces all foreign troops out of Iraq by 2011 as part of a proposed pact, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said today. "There is an agreement actually reached, reached between the two parties on a fixed date, which is the end... More »

Russia Keeps Troops in Poti

(Newser) - Russia says it will continue to patrol the key Black Sea port of Poti despite Western demands that it pull back to pre-conflict positions, Reuters reports. A Russian general said troops will continue "peacekeeping" operations there even though the city falls outside the perimeter agreed upon in the recent... More »

Maturing Iraqi Army Enabled US Troop Deal

2011 withdrawal probable thanks to tougher local forces

(Newser) - The US's preliminary agreement with Iraq to withdraw most combat troops by 2011 would have been unthinkable even a few months ago. Declining levels of violence, a ceasefire with the Mahdi Army, and the about-face of Sunni leaders have all helped, the Wall Street Journal reports, but for the administration,... More »

Iraq Security Deal Has US Troops Out of Cities By July

Legal immunity remains sticking point in pact yet to be approved by either side

(Newser) - Negotiators for the US and Iraq have completed a draft security agreement that plans to have US forces out of Iraqi cities by June 30, and out of the country completely by the end of 2011, the AP reports. Negotiators also reached accord on the contentious issue of legal immunity... More »

Russia Seizes Georgian Port, Detains Soldiers

(Newser) - Russian troops took control of the key Georgian port of Poti for about 4 hours today, just one day after it pledged to withdraw from the country, the Wall Street Journal reports. Some 70 Russian troops entered the Black Sea port this morning and detained 20 Georgian coast guard members... More »

Russia 'Already Paid a Price' for Georgia Invasion: Rice

Secretary says its reputation is 'in tatters'

(Newser) - Condoleezza Rice says Russia has “already paid a price” for its invasion of Georgia, because its “reputation as a potential partner in international institutions—diplomatic, political, security, economic—is frankly in tatters.” Returning from a trip to Georgia, Rice made a string of Sunday talk show appearances,... More »

Russian Onslaught Hikes War Fears

US condemns Russia's 'disproportionate' action in Georgian territory

(Newser) - Fears of a full-scale war continued to mount today as Russian forces kept up attacks even as Georgian troops pulled out of the battlefield at South Ossetia, reports the New York Times. Russia landed ground troops at a second disputed territory, Abkhazia, and broadened its aerial assaults to the airport... More »

Iraqi Troops: 'We're Not Ready to Go It Alone'

Officers decry lack of equipment; US pushes independence

(Newser) - Iraq’s army has taken strides toward independence—but it still needs the help of American forces, say Iraqi troops and officers interviewed by the New York Times. “We are too many years behind other countries. We need the coalition forces until 2015,” said one officer. But American... More »

US Death Toll in Iraq Plummets

Iraqi deaths down 75% from this time last year

(AP) - The monthly US toll in Iraq fell to its lowest point since the war began, with 10 American deaths recorded as July drew to a close today. Iraqis also are dying at dramatically lower numbers in the sixth year of the war. July saw the lowest civilian toll since December... More »

Kissinger Outlines Endgame for Iraq—Without Deadlines

Foes may lie low to re-emerge, he says

(Newser) - Henry Kissinger outlines his vision for the endgame in Iraq in a piece in the Washington Post, arguing that recent progress makes redeployment of US troops feasible, but "establishing a deadline is the surest way to undermine the hopeful prospects." A fixed deadline would encourage both al-Qaeda and... More »

Mac: Maliki's 'Pretty Good Timetable' Beats Obama's

Blogosphere up in arms at candidate's parsing of Iraq plans—both for 16 months

(Newser) - In an interview with CNN today, John McCain called Nouri al-Maliki’s troop withdrawal plan a “pretty good timetable”—leading Josh Marshall, on Talking Points Memo, to call foul. So “Barack Obama's 16 month timetable is a catastrophe,” Marshall says, the difference being that the Iraqi... More »

Bush Hand: Maliki Nod 'Incredibly Damaging' to Mac

Iraqi PM's virtual endorsement of Obama plan may be 'game-changing event'

(Newser) - President Bush’s former communications director is decidedly off GOP message in a new interview, Politico reports, with Dan Bartlett, now in the private sector, saying, “Time will tell, but the al-Maliki comments about a timetable is very close to a game-changing event. That was incredibly damaging [to McCain],... More »

Maliki Pegs Obama as the Most Pliant: Krauthammer

Iraq PM thinks Dem can be manipulated, writes Krauthammer

(Newser) - Nouri al-Maliki's endorsement of Barack Obama's timetable for withdrawal from Iraq this week was "the earliest and most ostentatious absentee ballot of this presidential election," writes Charles Krauthammer. The Washington Post columnist thinks that the Iraqi PM gave Obama an electorial assist for a clear reason: between him... More »

In Jordan, Obama Urges Iraq-to-Afghanistan Shift

With security improved, US must focus on fighting terror, Dem says

(AP) - Barack Obama said today that, with improved security in Iraq, the US should turn its attention to Afghanistan. “There is security progress, but now we need a political solution” in Iraq, Obama said in Amman, Jordan—in his first news conference abroad, the AP reports. Afghanistan, the “central... More »

Obama Beefs Up Foreign Policy Cred in Iraq

Maliki's endorsement of withdrawal timetable a stroke of luck

(Newser) - Presidential candidate Barack Obama's weeklong tour of seven countries has so far been fruitful, politically agile, and especially lucky, reports the New York Times. The Illinois senator's withdrawal plan received a timely endorsement from Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki, coinciding with President Bush's embrace of a "time horizon" for pulling... More »

Iraq Sands Shifting Under McCain Position

Move by Bush, Maliki toward timetable is 'devastating blow'

(Newser) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain is stuck in an awkward position after both President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki moved closer to a withdrawal timetable favored by Barack Obama, Politico notes. McCain has opposed such a measure, but in 2004 asserted that if a sovereign Iraqi government asked... More »

Maliki Uses US Politics to Gain Iraqi Leverage

'Let's squeeze them,' the PM is said to have proposed

(Newser) - The Iraqi PM’s endorsement of Barack Obama’s withdrawal timetable Saturday (walked back somewhat under pressure) was a calculated maneuver by a man who has figured out how to play US politics for his country's gain, Robert Reid writes for the AP. Nouri al-Maliki started using it as leverage... More »

Obama Arrives in Iraq

Candidate to meet with commanders and troops on third leg of world tour

(Newser) - Barack Obama landed in Basra today and headed to Baghdad for the latest leg of his world tour, the Washington Post reports. The candidate, who made a brief stop in Kuwait last night after 2 days in Afghanistan, will meet with US commanders and Iraqi officials and speak with US... More »

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