Iraq Insists on US Leaving Cities by June 30
Will this happen? Will some portion of these troops be sent to Afghanistan? Will Iraq suffer? Or rise to the occasion? Will the absence of our troops cause more violence, or will it subside?
Going to happen sooner or later. We made a mess. It is their lot to make it livable. It can not be much fun for them.
Their request is for troops to not be on regular patrol in the cities, not that they be out of the country. I haven’t gone back to research, but wasn’t that the plan all along?
No the ‘combat troops’ will be redefined as ‘military police’ and ‘training units’. On paper the number of combat troops will go down drastically, the number of people on the ground will hardly change.
The article was in response to the ongoing troubles in Mosul. The US is willing to continue to help in the city if the Iraqis request it. The strategic agreement with the Iraqi government was hammered out before Obama came into office. There is no change. If the Iraqis request help then it will be dealt with on a case by case basis. At this time troops are being withdrawn from cities by the end of June. The withdrawal from the country will happen over the next few years. Nothing new here.