Expert: US Could Leave Iraq in a Year (AP)

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Expert: US Could Leave Iraq in a Year

Wednesday August 15, 2007 8:31 AM

By BARRY SCHWEID

AP Diplomatic Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - It would take 12 months or longer to
safely withdraw all U.S. troops, contractors and equipment
from Iraq and phase out U.S. bases there, says a leading
analyst after extensive talks with U.S. commanders and
diplomats and Iraqi leaders in Baghdad.

The U.S. military in Iraq would prefer a slower-paced, two-
year pullout scenario, while outside experts say it “would
be feasible” to extricate 10,000 troops and 10,000
contractors a month, says Anthony H. Cordesman of the
Center for Strategic and International Studies.

These estimates do not mean the United States could not
leave Iraq more quickly, said Cordesman, a former director
of intelligence assessment at the Pentagon, in a weighty
report bound to get serious congressional consideration.

The more equipment and facilities the U.S. and Iraqi forces
abandon and destroy, the swifter the exodus, Cordesman
said. “Under these conditions, the U.S. could rush out in as
little as a few weeks and no more than a few months,” he
said.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-6851096,00.html

[Demeter]

1. US Could Leave Iraq TODAY

if Congress had the will to serve the nation.