Obama says he will set timetable for Baghdad

IRAQ WARS

Britain indicates no Iraq withdrawals for some time
Defence Secretary Des Browne said Thursday it would be some time before the number of British troops in Iraq was reduced. Britain said last October it hoped to cut numbers from around 4,000 to 2,500 in the first few months of this year. But at the start of this month, Browne confirmed that any reduction was being delayed amid recent unrest around Basra, southern Iraq, where most British troops are stationed. In his latest update to parliament on the situation, he said it remained the plan to reduce force levels "as and when conditions allow." "While the situation on the ground continues to evolve rapidly, and while military commanders continue to assess the changing environment in Basra, it remains prudent that we take time to fully consider further reductions," he said in a written statement. "14th Division (the Iraqi army division in Basra) is still months away from becoming fully operational." Browne announced that a new British brigade would take over providing the bulk of troops from June, and nearly 290 reservists would be called up as part of that to relieve existing personnel. British forces handed Basra province over to Iraqi control in December last year and have since been involved in troop training and joint patrols. Earlier this month, there were fierce clashes in Basra between Shiite militamen and Iraqi forces. British and US forces provided air support. Former prime minister Tony Blair led Britain into the 2003 invasion as the key ally of the United States. His successor Gordon Brown has sought to distance himself from association with the unpopular invasion since taking office last June. He has appointed several critics of the conflict into his Cabinet and admitted that mistakes were made in the run-up to the invasion.

by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) April 27, 2008
Democratic Senator Barack Obama warned Sunday that if he is elected president he would set a performance timetable for the Iraqi government and not sit aside "while they dither."

Asked in an interview on Fox News how he would handle the US mission in Iraq if he wins the presidency in the November election, he left open the possibility that he would would continue to work with the war's current architects, including General David Petraeus, who was named last week to lead US forces in the entire Middle East, pending Senate confirmation.

"I will listen to General Petraeus, given the experience that he's accumulated over the last several years. It would be stupid of me to ignore what he has to say," Obama said.

"What I will do is say, we have a new mission. It's my strategic assessment that we have to provide a timetable to the Iraqi government," he added.

Obama said that while he would welcome tactical advice from the current US commanders, "What I will not do is to continue to let the Iraqi government off the hook and allow them to put our foreign policy on ice, while they dither about making decisions about how they're going to cooperate with each other."

Obama reiterated his view that the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have overly stretched the US military to the point that it does not have adequate capacity to respond to another fight.

"We've got a whole host of tasks and I have also got to worry about the fact that the military has no strategic reserve right now.

"If we have an emergency in the Korean peninsula, if we have an emergency elsewhere in the world, we don't have the troops to deal with it," he said.

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IRAQ WARS

Analysis: Congress attacks Iraq spending

Washington (UPI) April 24, 2008
This comes as Americans deal with -- and politicians respond to -- an unpopular and expensive war, a sinking economy and record gas prices. Future reconstruction and security forces training paid by U.S. government in form of a loan Total: $113.95 billion (January 2008 U.S. Government Accountability Office report)

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