Navy Admiral Mullen Meets With Prime Minister Maliki
There is a lot of pressure to establish a withdrawal schedule from Iraq, and the pressure has extended to the troops in Iraqi in some ways. Setting a specific timeline for US Troop withdrawals would set up a dangerous precedence. There needs to be a withdrawal based on the security situation, not on an arbitrary timeline.
Despite this, President Bush and Iraq Prime Minister Maliki have talked about general terms of a withdrawal, and they have worked to agree on when some of the additional troops from the US will return.
Navy Admiral Mullen also recently met with Prime Minister Maliki and spoke for nearly two hours about different issues affecting the ongoing security of Iraq.
The Iraqi Security situation has continued to increase in a positive manner, and the Iraqi Security Forces have worked hard to increase their professionalism and ability. They have gained in confidence and success, and it is precisely because of their success that US and coalition forces will be able to withdraw.
The Iraqi forces will assume full control of the nation when the coalition leaves, so it is doing well to prepare for the eventual withdrawal.
The meeting between Admiral Mullen and the Iraqi Prime minister went well, and they agreed about a number of positive issues that are occurring in Iraq, and the region.
