US General .. we may have to scrap US deadline in IRAQ if al qaeda acts up

[jameznyhc]

But wait Obama said he was ending the war.. he said the central fight on terror is afghanistan/pakistan .. he Iraq was the WRONG and STUPID war.. he wanted to end it in 2004.. and now were hearing the deadline may not be met because of al qaeda??? ... now what are you Obama supporters thinking?? id love to know..he promised all troops out in 18 months that would be June 2010 ... lol as of now they are there until 2011 .. then after 2011 he leaving an additional 50,000 for security.. damn son damn does this man never stop lying? or breaking promises ..



President Barack Obama is seeking $83.4 billion for US military and diplomatic operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, pressing for special troop funding that he opposed two years ago when he was a senator and George W. Bush was President. Mr Obama’s request, including money to send thousands more troops into Afghanistan, would push the costs of the two wars to almost $1 trillion since the September 11, 2001, terror attacks against the US, according to the Congressional Research Service.


General Ray Odierno: we may miss Iraq deadline to halt al-Qaeda terror
(Karim Kadim/AP)
President Obama has pledged to withdraw all combat forces from Iraq by August 2010
Image :1 of 2
Deborah Haynes in Baghdad
The activities of al-Qaeda in two of Iraq’s most troubled cities could keep US combat troops engaged beyond the June 30 deadline for their withdrawal, the top US commander in the country has warned.

US troop numbers in Mosul and Baqubah, in the north of the country, could rise rather than fall over the next year if necessary, General Ray Odierno told The Times in his first interview with a British newspaper since taking over from General David Petraeus in September.

He said that a joint assessment would be conducted with the Iraqi authorities in the coming weeks before a decision is made.

Combat troops are due to leave all Iraqi cities by the end of June. Any delay would be a potential setback for President Obama, who has pledged to withdraw all combat forces from Iraq by August 2010 as he switches his focus to Afghanistan.


The ultimate decision on keeping or withdrawing troops would be taken by Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, handing him a big dilemma, given the desire by most Iraqis for the US military to leave the country.

Tens of thousands of supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr, the antiAmerican Shia cleric, marched through Baghdad yesterday, the sixth anniversary of the fall of the capital, to demand the withdrawal of US forces.

General Odierno, 54, said that he was also concerned about the risk of renewed conflict between Arabs and Kurds in northern Iraq, where tensions are rising over the ownership of territory. He also cited the “very dangerous” threat posed by Iranian-funded militants, who appear to be styling themselves on Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

General Odierno, a bald, imposing 6ft 5in, was speaking as he sat outside the back of the Saddam-era mansion that he calls home, next to a man-made lake on a military base in Baghdad. Touching on a range of issues, he said that he was not worried by a recent spate of deadly bombings against Shia targets blamed on al-Qaeda. He said they were designed to coincide with key dates such as the anniversary of Baghdad’s fall and rejected the idea that they signalled a fresh round of sectarian war.

The general has long experience of Iraq: he arrived in April 2003, after the invasion, and led the US division that was ultimately responsible for capturing Saddam Hussein; he was No 2 to General Petraeus in 2007; and is now on his third tour in charge of the American withdrawal.

Under an agreement between Washington and Baghdad, all 140,000 US troops must be out by the end of 2011.

Despite the rise in the number of attacks, overall violence is still far below levels of two years ago when the surge of an extra 30,000 US forces – a strategy created and implemented by General Odierno and his boss, General Petraeus – was just getting started. That risk paid off, subduing a civil war that was killing thousands of Iraqi civilians and scores of American soldiers every month.

General Odierno said that his darkest days in Iraq were when he was in charge of day-to-day combat operations in 2007. During that 15-month tour he signed hundreds of letters of condolence to the parents of service-men and women from the US, Britain and other coalition countries. “I always felt [the surge] would [succeed] but those were the times when you were wondering whether this will work or not,” he said.


The war touched him more than most commanders. “The toughest day was the day I got called that my son was injured over here,” he said. Tony Odierno, then an army lieutenant, lost an arm in a rocket attack in 2004.

The US commander was confident that the overall timetable for the US pullout would be met. But he added that US combat troops might have to stay beyond June 30 in Mosul and Baqubah, where al-Qaeda retains an active presence. “The two areas I am concerned with are Mosul and then Baqubah and [other] parts of Diyala province,” he said. “We will conduct assessments and provide our assessments when the time is right.”

He added that over the next 12 months “we won’t see a large reduction in any forces in Mosul or Diyala. In fact we might see reinforcements in those areas if we continue to have issues”. Another flashpoint is the ethnically divided city of Kirkuk, on the border of Iraqi Kurdistan, where Arabs and Kurds are at loggerheads. Provincial elections were delayed there because of a disagreement over ownership of the city, a row that also covers towns and villages scattered along the border.

The general agreed that there was a risk of conflict in those areas. “We can’t allow politics, we can’t allow pride, we can’t allow ego to cause violence to occur when you can solve a problem with dialogue.”


He said that he was also keeping an eye on Iranian-backed Shia militants who are fewer in number compared with two years ago but restructuring into groups with a political and military wing, similar to Hezbollah.

A MILITARY LEADER WHO COMMANDS RESPECT

“One of the most effective military leaders of his generation”

Defence Secretary Robert Gates, speaking in February 2008

“He went through a complete metamorphosis. He educated himself and became the preeminent operational commander we have in conducting irregular warfare”

Retired General Jack Keane, who worked closely with General Odierno on the surge

“He really just wanted to play football, serve his five years and get out of the army. But he hurt his knee and never got the chance”

Linda Odierno, his wife, in an interview with the Baltimore Sun

“I appreciate the fact that you really snatched defeat out of the jaws of those who were trying to defeat us in Iraq”

George W. Bush, thanking General Odierno in March 2008

Source: Times database



http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...fset=12&page=2

[DINO nYc]

I love it - all of Obama's campaign promises are becoming lies.

[jameznyhc]

I love it - all of Obama's campaign promises are becoming lies.

Dude i never in my life saw anything like it .. sure you get politicians who flipflop on a populas issue or two .. but this contradicts EVERYTHING Obama ran on .. besides all the other lies.. Godamn lets hope America never ever gets suckered like this again ..

[joeylima]

Dude i never in my life saw anything like it .. sure you get politicians who flipflop on a populas issue or two .. but this contradicts EVERYTHING Obama ran on .. besides all the other lies.. Godamn lets hope America never ever gets suckered like this again ..

It doesn't even matter bro. All his die hard supporters are going to back him NO MATTER WHAT...thats pretty evident...they won't even admit when Obama makes a mistake for cryin out loud...

Hopefully the REST of the country gets it right next time around...

[John Kennedy]

The money is for the wars going on this year.. pullout of combat is still next August (2010), as promised (off by 2 months I think?) and then everyone out in 2011. What's the problem?

[jameznyhc]

The money is for the wars going on this year.. pullout of combat is still next August (2010), as promised (off by 2 months I think?) and then everyone out in 2011. What's the problem?

what combat? its been over for well over a year lol .. whats the 50k additonal troops there for?

[chris817]

what combat? its been over for well over a year lol .. whats the 50k additonal troops there for?

tell that to the families of the 5 soldiers who died today

[John Kennedy]

jamez is anti patriot act and dying to bring troops home asap... did you just lease a Prius too?

[jameznyhc]

jamez is anti patriot act and dying to bring troops home asap... did you just lease a Prius too?

the surge worked .. right now its a security mission as well as nato since their are no clear goals .. i do not believe the Iranians could overtake iraq now and al qaeda been crippled they have no shot ..almost every benchmark was met .. so why is he waiting? ..after all he said it was a stupid war

[jameznyhc]

tell that to the families of the 5 soldiers who died today

not combat chris that was a cowardly terrorist act ..just like the cowardly terrorist acts committed all over this world .. my big fear is the may try testing Obama and shit could flare up again .. if the surge worked, al qaeda crippled , the benchmarks were met, and Iran as center focus i dont see iraq becoming a terrorist haven .. we won an insurgency that you said and the president said would fail and bring more violence if bush went thru with his surge ... all benchmarks were met .. many many successful elections, a free press ...but what i dont get is if the dems wanted to pull the plug in 04 when shit was crazy and there was a real threat of iraq becoming a terrorist state why wouldnt you leve now???

[jameznyhc]

jamez is anti patriot act and dying to bring troops home asap... did you just lease a Prius too?

lets hope it doesnt get abused ... Bush never went after his critics and private citizens the way joe the plumber, Rush, Santelli, Cramer, and hannity have been targeted by this white house .. If Bush smeared private citizens and critics i wouldnt have supported it ..makes me think twice.. besides barry sid he against it so im sure it will be repealed asap

[jameznyhc]

The money is for the wars going on this year.. pullout of combat is still next August (2010), as promised (off by 2 months I think?) and then everyone out in 2011. What's the problem?

and will haliburton be a contractor .. oh man its just unreal..

But here the deal if al qaeda does act up and become a serious threat i will definitly support scrapping the deadline .. the question is how can Obama ever flipflop like that..i mean if he stays to protect Iraq from al qaeda or civil war how is he any different than Bush or McCain?

if he refuses to leave and honor Malikis timetable now and leave 50k troops how is he any different than bush or McCain?

[metfan85]

James, please don't post this. I don't know how many surprises I can take for one day.

I wonder what "al qaeda" will do. What a joke. "Oh yeah we might have to stay behind, if a group that hasn't operated there in 4 years, and only operated there once we invaded happens to start attacks again."

Actually it's not a joke, while Obama's precious daughters are playing on their jungle gym on the White House lawn, real people's kids will be dying.

The money is for the wars going on this year.. pullout of combat is still next August (2010), as promised (off by 2 months I think?) and then everyone out in 2011. What's the problem?

then everyone minus the 50,000 staying in permanent bases will be leaving

160,000 troops in Iraq - 160,000 troops being pulled out by 2011 = 50,000 troops left over?

I only got a B- in calculus, but something seems funny about the math. Shouldn't 160,000- 160,000 = 0?