Iraq Combat Duty Over For U.S. Troops, Barring 'A Complete Failure'

WASHINGTON — It would take "a complete failure" of the Iraqi security forces for the U.S. to resume combat operations there, the top American commander in Iraq said as the final U.S. fighting forces prepared to leave the country.

With a major military milestone in sight, Gen. Ray Odierno said in interviews broadcast Sunday that any resumption of combat duties by American forces is unlikely.

"We don't see that happening," Odierno said. The Iraqi security forces have been doing "so well for so long now that we really believe we're beyond that point."

President Barack Obama plans a major speech on Iraq after his return to Washington, according to a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday because details were being finalized. The speech will come shortly after Obama returns to the White House on Aug. 29 from his Martha's Vineyard vacation.

About 50,000 U.S. troops will remain in the country until the end of 2011 to serve as a training and assistance force, a dramatic drawdown from the peak of more than 170,000 during the surge of American forces in 2007.

Obama will face a delicate balancing act in his speech between welcoming signs of progress and bringing an end to the 7-year-old war without prematurely declaring the mission accomplished, as former President George W. Bush once did.

U.S. involvement in Iraq beyond the end of 2011, Odierno said, probably would involve assisting the Iraqis secure their airspace and borders.

While Iraq forces can handle internal security and protect Iraqis, Odierno said he believes military commanders want to have the U.S. involved beyond 2011 to help Iraqis acquire the required equipment, training and technical capabilities.

He said Iraq's security forces have matured to the point where they will be ready to shoulder enough of the burden to permit the remaining 50,000 soldiers to go home at the end of next year.

If the Iraqis asked that American troops remain in the country after 2011, Odierno said U.S. officials would consider it, but that would be a policy decision made by the president and his national security advisers.

Odierno's assessment, while optimistic, also acknowledges the difficult road ahead for the Iraqis as they take control of their own security, even as political divisions threaten the formation of the fledgling democracy.

South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, who's on the Senate Armed Services Committee, told CBS' "Face the Nation" that he hopes "we will have an enduring relationship of having some military presence in Iraq. I think that would be smart not to let things unwind over the next three or five years."

On Thursday, the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division began crossing the border from Iraq into Kuwait, becoming the last combat brigade to leave Iraq. Its exodus, along with that of the approximately 2,000 remaining U.S. combat forces destined to leave in the coming days, fulfills Obama's pledge to end combat operations in Iraq by Aug. 31.

In interviews with CBS' "Face the Nation" and CNN's "State of the Union," Odierno said it may take several years before America can determine if the war was a success.

"A strong democratic Iraq will bring stability to the Middle East, and if we see Iraq that's moving toward that, two, three, five years from now, I think we can call our operations a success," he said.

Much of that may hinge on whether Iraq's political leaders can overcome ethnic divisions and work toward a more unified government, while also enabling security forces to tamp down a simmering insurgency.

Iraq's political parties have been bickering for more than five months since the March parliamentary elections failed to produce a clear winner. They have yet to reach agreements on how to share power or whether to replace embattled Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and amid the political instability, other economic and governmental problems fester.

Fueling that instability is neighboring Iran which, Odierno said, continues to fund and train Shiite extremist groups.

"They don't want to see Iraq turn into a strong democratic country. They'd rather see it become a weak governmental institution," said Odierno.

He added that he is not worried that Iraq will fall back into a military dictatorship, as it was under the reign of Saddam Hussein.

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Associated Press writer Erica Werner in Edgartown, Mass., contributed to this report.

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Online:

U.S. forces in Iraq: http://www.usf-iraq.com/

Defense Department: http://www.defenselink.mil

Comments

[trollingfortruth]

10:21 AM on 08/23/2010

Let's hope that the president's speech shows that he has accomplished another of his campaign promises. With his approval ratings so low and with the midterms fast approaching, God knows he needs something like this to bolster his sagging credibility. But there must be extreme tact and diplomacy following the speech. Iraq is still very unstable, in the opinion of many. Yet, it is better to get out than to allow more of our women and men to die. If the Iraqis want to go into another civil war with each other after we've cleared out, so be it. And, BTW, where are all of our troops going? To Afghanistan, or Iran, or Pakistan? And when they do come home, will they have good, productive jobs and all the medical care they need for both themselves and their families?

[Yaxchibonam]

08:06 AM on 08/23/2010

How do you write "BARRING A COMPLETE FAILURE" in Arabic? This will be posted in every Taliban living room from Kabul to Mazar e Sharif. The first war will serve as a model for the second.

[muck-raker]

07:27 AM on 08/23/2010

here is a little more info that the news is not covering....Bush paid the Mahdi army not to attack us....now what? The USA at the outset destroyed all elec grids so that today Iraqis have sometimes ELECTRICITY for 3 hours a day. They have very little drinking water, canals, irrigation systems are poluted. Hospitals and police stations blown up remain unusable. After killing 655,000 civilians with the resulting loss of 5500 of our kids...WHAT WAS THE GAIN.. Bush 1 set up no fly zones and Iraq was blown up daily. There are now 4 major OIL Corporations pumping Iraq dry. The country is now in religious strife. The USA now has 14 Permanent Military impounds there with a total now of 707 Military Bases around the World...can you say Worlds Policeman? I can. all on the taxpayer dollar. 700 BILLION dollar a year Defense Budget all with 15 million Americans out of work...does not compute in my book. And last as you will never hear it on American news....DU...(Depleted Uranium) from tank shells, its everywhere and now Iraqis are having major sickness from this stuff. Remember Falluja? this was the town that had some 7-10 so called terrorist(freedom fighters in my book) When we had trouble expelling them, the air force was called in ...Falluja is gone, all that remains is DU

[SamEllison]

10:52 PM on 08/22/2010

Instead of screaming at each other up in New York City,
why don't we have a ticker tape parade?
Maybe now is a good time to re-think that celebration in DC,
the one that Rumsfeld, at bit prematurely, called for?

[Kiranitisme]

08:46 PM on 08/22/2010

Why anyone in his or her right sense of mind call this "IRAQ WAR" instead of calling it "AMERICAN INVASION AND OCCUPATION OF IRAQ"? What did Bush Administration and GOP gain by this except for loss of about 5000 innocent US troops and $1 trillion in tax payer money?