Iraq Study Group to call for phased withdrawal
The bi-partisan Iraq Study Group has agreed to call for a gradual pullback of US troops from Iraq and to open negotiations with Iran and Syria.
The report is expected next week. According to the New York Times, the panel implicitly says the withdrawal should begin next year. But the report does not set a firm timetable and leaves open-ended the question of whether US troops would be deployed to neighboring countries or brought home. Since its inception, the Iraq Study Group’s critics have accused it of being a tool to provide political cover for the status quo. A senior US military officer involved in Iraq planning said:
“The question is whether it doesn’t look like a timeline to Bush, and does to [Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri] Maliki.”
Stumble it!