U.S. military commanders in Iraq have outlined troop reduction plans that remain at odds with President-elect Barack Obama’s preferences but believe they may be able to reconcile the two goals.
Senior military leaders briefing Obama this week described a new military plan for troop withdrawals, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Thursday. But the commanders suggested a more gradual reduction than Obama’s proposal for a withdrawal of combat troops within 16 months.
The two plans could be squared by moving to reclassify, or “re-mission,” U.S. troops still in Iraq after 16 months to change combat forces to training units or residual forces, according to military officials.
Already, military officials have reassigned combat infantry soldiers and Marines to training jobs. Combat forces still in Iraq after May 2010 would probably be needed more for training missions in any case, officials have said.
Obama’s transition team and the Pentagon have moved closer on the question of troop levels since the election, and each side has carved out room to maneuver.
Although Obama has proposed removing all combat troops in 16 months, he has proposed a residual force after May 2010. Advisers have said that residual force could consist of as many as 50,000 troops.
Obama also has promised to consider the advice of commanders and has said that the pace of the withdrawal must not endanger the security of U.S. troops.
It was not clear under the newest military proposal, crafted by Army Gen. Ray Odierno, when military leaders would withdraw the last U.S. combat troops from Iraq. But the latest proposal would remove more troops in 2009 than commanders have previously outlined, officials said.
Under Odierno’s plan, all U.S. forces would be out of Iraq by the end of 2011, according to Pentagon officials. In the new security agreement with Iraq, Washington has promised to withdraw all its forces by then.
Odierno presented his plans to Defense Secretary Robert Gates last Saturday at a meeting in Iraq. On Monday, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, presented those plans to Obama and his national security team in Chicago.
“Ultimately this will be up to the president-elect, to the new commander in chief, to determine the direction he wishes to go in Iraq,” Morrell said.
Although the new plan by Odierno would have all U.S. forces out of Iraq by 2011, defense officials note that that plan could also change.
In an interview Wednesday on PBS’ “Charlie Rose Show,” Gates said U.S. troops could remain in Iraq past 2011 if Iraqis choose to renegotiate the security agreement.
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