Obama calls for immediate, gradual withdrawal from Iraq

FE Team | Published: September 13, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

CLINTON, Iowa, Sept 12 (AP): Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is calling for the immediate withdrawal of all US combat brigades from Iraq, with the pullout being completed by the end of next year.
"Let me be clear: There is no military solution in Iraq and there never was," Obama was expected to say in a speech Wednesday at Ashford University.
"The best way to protect our security and to pressure Iraq's leaders to resolve their civil war is to immediately begin to remove our combat troops. Not in six months or one year - now," the Illinois senator was to say.
Obama was trying to further sharpen that distinction Wednesday, spelling out his views on what the US should do next. He introduced legislation in January calling for withdrawal to start on May 1 and for all combat brigades to be pulled out by March 31, 2008.
Obama said the US and the Iraqi government should discuss how to go about withdrawing troops.
"We must get out strategically and carefully, removing troops from secure areas first and keeping troops in more volatile areas until later," Obama said in prepared remarks. Key excerpts were obtained by The Associated Press.
Although he stopped short of calling for an immediate pullout of all troops, Obama said there should be a clear and certain timetable.
"But our drawdown should proceed at a steady pace of one or two brigades each month," he said. "If we start now, all of our combat brigades should be out of Iraq by the end of next year." By arguing that only combat brigades should be withdrawn - there are 20 in Iraq, including five sent in January by President George W. Bush - Obama appeared to suggest that other US troops could remain.
Underscoring the importance he was putting on the speech, Obama was being introduced by Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was national security adviser to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981. Brzezinski has endorsed Obama's bid, and Wednesday's appearance would be his first on the candidate's behalf.
Obama rejected Petraeus' recommendation to maintain current troop levels through next summer to ensure security gains are maintained. "The president would have us believe there are two choices: keep all of our troops in Iraq or abandon these Iraqis," Obama said. "I reject this choice."
Instead, he argued for creating an international working group of countries in the region and in Asia and Europe that would work to stabilise Iraq.
Obama called for increasing US aid to US$2 billion (euro1.5 billion) to support such an effort, to expand access to social services for Iraqi refugees in neighbouring countries and to assure that Iraqis displaced inside their own country can find safe haven. He also wants a commission to monitor and hold accountable perpetrators of war crimes in Iraq.
President Bush will tell the nation Thursday evening that he plans to reduce the American troop presence in Iraq by as many as 30,000 by next summer but will condition those and further cuts on continued progress, The Associated Press has learned.
In a 15-minute address from the White House at 9 p.m. EDT, Bush will endorse the recommendations of his top general and top diplomat in Iraq, following their appearance at two days of hearings in Congress, administration officials said. The White House plans to issue a written status report on the troop buildup Friday, they said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because Bush's speech is not yet final. Bush was rehearsing and polishing his remarks even as the US commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, and US Ambassador Ryan Crocker were presenting their arguments for a second day on Capitol Hill.
In the speech, the president will say he understands Americans' deep concerns about US involvement in Iraq and their desire to bring the troops home, they said. Bush will say that, after hearing from Petraeus and Crocker, he has decided on a way forward that will reduce the US military presence but not abandon Iraq to chaos, according to the officials.
The address will stake out a conciliatory tone toward Congress. But while mirroring Petraeus' strategy, Bush will place more conditions on reductions than his general did, insisting that conditions on the ground must warrant cuts and that now-unforeseen events could change the plan.