A preview of the 9/15 'Petraeus' report?

Military plans smaller U.S. role in Iraq
Published Tuesday | August 21, 2007


WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. military officials appear to be focusing on reducing the U.S. combat role in Iraq in 2008 while increasing training of Iraqi forces, a senior military official told the Associated Press on Monday.

The military has not yet developed a plan for a substantial withdrawal of U.S. forces next year. But officials are laying the groundwork for possible overtures to Turkey and Jordan on using their territory to move some troops and equipment out of Iraq, the official said. The main exit would remain Kuwait, but additional routes would make it easier and safer for U.S. troops leaving western and northern Iraq.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, emphasized that the discussions do not prejudge decisions yet to be made by President Bush. Those decisions include how long to maintain the current U.S. troop buildup and when to make the transition to a larger Iraqi combat role.

It is widely anticipated that the five extra Army brigades that were sent to the Baghdad area this year will be withdrawn by late next summer. But it is far less clear whether the Bush administration will follow that immediately with additional withdrawals, as many Democrats in Congress are advocating.

Bush has mentioned publicly that he likes the idea, first proposed late last year by the Iraq Study Group, of switching the emphasis of U.S. military efforts from mainly combat to mainly support roles. But he also has said that this should not happen until Baghdad in particular is stable enough to enable Iraqi political leaders to make hard choices about reconciling rival interests among Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.

~snip~

Petraeus and other senior commanders have said in recent weeks that the U.S. troop buildup will end in 2008, but Petraeus has not recommended a follow-on strategy to Bush. Much depends on judgments about how soon Iraqi security forces will be ready to assume a bigger role, as well as the likelihood of political progress.


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Surge is working. White House plan is working good. Everything is good in the region and less people are dying. It's all good.

Then Petraeus lights a cigarette.