thedrifter
02-28-09, 06:16 AM
MCCAIN MORE OK WITH STRATEGY THAN SOME DEMS
By ANDY SOLTIS
February 28, 2009 --
President Obama yesterday revealed a scaled-back troop-withdrawal plan for Iraq that drew surprise praise from Republican John McCain but left fellow Democrats a bit uneasy.
"Let me say this as plainly as I can," Obama told Marines at Camp Lejeune, NC. "By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end."
But the noncombat mission, he added, will continue for more than a year after that, and about a third of the 142,000 troops currently in Iraq will remain until the start of 2012.
Those troops will train and equip the Iraqi forces, protect civilian reconstruction projects and conduct limited counterterrorism operations in what McCain called a "reasonable" plan that he could support - and that was "dramatically different" from the president's pre-election promise.
Candidate Obama made withdrawal from Iraq a central theme of his campaign, vowing to pull out all troops, not just those assigned to combat, within 16 months of taking office. Yesterday, he said it would take another 18 months to remove just the combat troops.
"Overall it is a reasonable plan and one that can work and I support it," McCain told Reuters.
In his presidential race against Obama, McCain argued that his rival was naive on national security and criticized his pledge to pull troops within 16 months.
Some senior Democrats appeared troubled by the size of the contingent that would remain under the new plan.
"When they talk about 50,000, that's a little higher number than I had anticipated," admitted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Officials said the drawdown would be backloaded, starting with as few as two brigades by the end of the year and rising sharply in the final months before the August 2010 target date.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a holdover from the Bush administration, said he was pleased with the strategy but that it might be a good idea to keep some troops in Iraq beyond Dec. 31, 2011.
andy.soltis@nypost.com
Ellie
By ANDY SOLTIS
February 28, 2009 --
President Obama yesterday revealed a scaled-back troop-withdrawal plan for Iraq that drew surprise praise from Republican John McCain but left fellow Democrats a bit uneasy.
"Let me say this as plainly as I can," Obama told Marines at Camp Lejeune, NC. "By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end."
But the noncombat mission, he added, will continue for more than a year after that, and about a third of the 142,000 troops currently in Iraq will remain until the start of 2012.
Those troops will train and equip the Iraqi forces, protect civilian reconstruction projects and conduct limited counterterrorism operations in what McCain called a "reasonable" plan that he could support - and that was "dramatically different" from the president's pre-election promise.
Candidate Obama made withdrawal from Iraq a central theme of his campaign, vowing to pull out all troops, not just those assigned to combat, within 16 months of taking office. Yesterday, he said it would take another 18 months to remove just the combat troops.
"Overall it is a reasonable plan and one that can work and I support it," McCain told Reuters.
In his presidential race against Obama, McCain argued that his rival was naive on national security and criticized his pledge to pull troops within 16 months.
Some senior Democrats appeared troubled by the size of the contingent that would remain under the new plan.
"When they talk about 50,000, that's a little higher number than I had anticipated," admitted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Officials said the drawdown would be backloaded, starting with as few as two brigades by the end of the year and rising sharply in the final months before the August 2010 target date.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a holdover from the Bush administration, said he was pleased with the strategy but that it might be a good idea to keep some troops in Iraq beyond Dec. 31, 2011.
andy.soltis@nypost.com
Ellie