The US Military has begun to take the first steps to complete the planned withdrawal of US forces from Iraq. The plan, set by President Obama, is supposed to take all major components of US troops out of the country by the end of 2010. Today, Army Major General Perkins said “Between now and September… we’ll be reducing by two brigade combat teams here on the ground in Iraq.” He went on to say “We’ll also be reducing the number of various enablers”. Enablers constitutes the various support elements needed to keep a combat team in place and functioning. There will also be a withdrawal of an Air Force fighter squadron.
Perkins then went on to talk about the role of the United States’ main ally, England, in the southern part of Iraq. He said “The British brigade down south will return back to the United Kingdom and not be replaced.” This will amount to a reduction of 12,000 US personnel and 4,000 British troops. Gen. Perkins denies that these steps at reduction are compromising overall security in Iraq, given that other units will reposition accordingly to maintain the security the surge worked to gain. Perkins stated that this is simply a repitition of the tactics employed from the height of the surge to now, where a reduction of as much as 20 percent took place.
Since January, 30 bases and operational areas under US control have been turned over to the Iraqi government, and another 70 or so are planned for a similar transition by the end of March. These reductions and the gradual passing of control from the US forces to the Iraqi government is a necessary and overdue process. But it is as they say, better late than never. The country is better off now than it was a year, or two or three ago, and the government is making progress in asserting its own ability to rule.
