The U.S. is abandoning plans to keep U.S. troops in Iraq past a year-end withdrawal deadline, The Associated Press has learned. The decision to pull out fully by January will effectively end more than eight years of U.S. involvement in the Iraq war, despite ongoing concerns about its security forces and the potential for instability.
We rightly don't want our troops subject to prosecution in what is essentially a job to protect Iraq. There is too much of a chance of pro-Iranian elements engineering a bogus prosecution.
But on the other hand, the number of troops we are talking about is so low (less than 5,000) that we could easily push that number back into Iraq with minimal delay even if we pull everything out ahead of January 1, 2012.
I don't assume this is the last word. Maybe Iraq just needs some time to comtemplate their future alone after having us at their side all these years in a very dangerous neighborhood.
UPDATE: Not so fast, apparently:
The White House and Pentagon both denied an Associated Press report citing unnamed U.S. officials saying they completely dropped the idea of possibly keeping a significant contingent in Iraq as trainers for Iraqi security forces beyond 2011.
Perhaps we're just trying to get the attention of the Iraqis to inspire them to have a sense of urgency on the issue.
