Nbadan
04-13-2005, 12:41 AM
April 12 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. has no exit strategy or timetable for withdrawing its forces from Iraq and a pull-out depends on the readiness of the Iraqi Security Forces, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said.
``We don't have an exit strategy, we have a victory strategy,'' Rumsfeld told soldiers during a surprise visit to Baghdad, according to a pooled broadcast report from the capital. ``The goal is to help the Iraqi Forces develop the skills and the capacity to provide their own security.''
The defense secretary arrived in Iraq today to meet with Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and President Jalal Talabani, Captain Darren Luke, a U.S. military spokesman, said by telephone from Baghdad. He'll press the two, who were both elected by National Assembly members last week, to continue moves toward democracy, the Associated Press reported.
The U.S. currently has 150,000 soldiers in Iraq, the strongest foreign contingent there followed by the U.K., South Korea and Italy. Poland, which has 1,700 troops in Iraq, today announced it would recall its forces by year's end, Polish TVN24 television reported.
more:Bloomberg (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=a8sZejFz9ssI&refer=top_world_news)
:lol Victory strategy?!?
Apparently, this 'victory strategy' includes a generation or two in Iraq...
Now comes a report in the New York Sun by Eli Lake revealing that the Pentagon is building a permanent military communications system in Iraq, a necessary foundation for any lasting troop presence. The new network will comprise twelve communications towers throughout Iraq, linking Camp Victory in Baghdad to other existing (and future) bases across the country, eventually connecting with US bases in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan.
"People need to get realistic and think in terms of our presence being in Iraq for a generation or until democratic stability in the region is reached," Dewey Clarridge, the CIA's former chief of Arab operations (and Iran-contra point man), told the Sun.
The fabled "exit strategy" may be not to exit. Thomas Donnelly, a defense specialist at the American Enterprise Institute, said the new communication system resembles those built in West Germany and the Balkans, places where American troops remain today. "The operational advantages of US bases in Iraq should be obvious for other power-projection missions in the region," Donnelly wrote in an AEI policy paper.
Next time the Bush Administration hints at withdrawing troops, keep these grand plans in mind.
The Nation (http://www.thenation.com/blogs/outrage?bid=13&pid=2132)
It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months."
- Donald Rumsfeld, February 7, 2003
``We don't have an exit strategy, we have a victory strategy,'' Rumsfeld told soldiers during a surprise visit to Baghdad, according to a pooled broadcast report from the capital. ``The goal is to help the Iraqi Forces develop the skills and the capacity to provide their own security.''
The defense secretary arrived in Iraq today to meet with Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and President Jalal Talabani, Captain Darren Luke, a U.S. military spokesman, said by telephone from Baghdad. He'll press the two, who were both elected by National Assembly members last week, to continue moves toward democracy, the Associated Press reported.
The U.S. currently has 150,000 soldiers in Iraq, the strongest foreign contingent there followed by the U.K., South Korea and Italy. Poland, which has 1,700 troops in Iraq, today announced it would recall its forces by year's end, Polish TVN24 television reported.
more:Bloomberg (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=a8sZejFz9ssI&refer=top_world_news)
:lol Victory strategy?!?
Apparently, this 'victory strategy' includes a generation or two in Iraq...
Now comes a report in the New York Sun by Eli Lake revealing that the Pentagon is building a permanent military communications system in Iraq, a necessary foundation for any lasting troop presence. The new network will comprise twelve communications towers throughout Iraq, linking Camp Victory in Baghdad to other existing (and future) bases across the country, eventually connecting with US bases in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan.
"People need to get realistic and think in terms of our presence being in Iraq for a generation or until democratic stability in the region is reached," Dewey Clarridge, the CIA's former chief of Arab operations (and Iran-contra point man), told the Sun.
The fabled "exit strategy" may be not to exit. Thomas Donnelly, a defense specialist at the American Enterprise Institute, said the new communication system resembles those built in West Germany and the Balkans, places where American troops remain today. "The operational advantages of US bases in Iraq should be obvious for other power-projection missions in the region," Donnelly wrote in an AEI policy paper.
Next time the Bush Administration hints at withdrawing troops, keep these grand plans in mind.
The Nation (http://www.thenation.com/blogs/outrage?bid=13&pid=2132)
It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months."
- Donald Rumsfeld, February 7, 2003