Iraqi government welcomes U.S. plans to withdraw troops by August – newspaper

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi government has welcomed American plans to withdraw most U..S. combat troops by August next year, the Guardian newspaper said. “We are now carefully reviewing our policies in both wars, and I will soon announce a way forward in Iraq that leaves Iraq to its people and responsibly ends this war,” Obama said in his address to Congress. Sadiq al-Rikabi, one of Maliki’s top advisers, said the prime minister had no worries about American forces moving out. Under the U.S.-Iraq security agreement, which took effect in January, American troops – currently about 145,000 – would withdraw from Iraqi cities by June next year and pull out by the end of 2011. Robert Gates, the defence secretary, and Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, had recently presented three alternatives – 16, 19 and 23 months. Some of America’s generals based in Iraq preferred the longest option. Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, who has been pressing for an accelerated pullout, said that Iraqi forces would be ready to take over full responsibility for security. Barack Obama, the U.S. president, has been looking at several options for an end to the U.S. combat presence as he seeks to draw a line under a deeply unpopular war. In planning to end the U.S. combat presence by August 2010, Obama is opting for a middle option, giving his military three months more than the 16-month time­table he promised during the presidential campaign last year.   SH (S)/SR 1