[NYTr] Bush Determined to Leave Iraq Mess to His Successor

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Reuters - Jul 30, 2007
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSGRA04443020070730

Big U.S. presence in Iraq until mid-2009: commander

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. generals expect to need a large contingent of
troops in Iraq until the middle of 2009, the commander of U.S. forces in
Iraq said on Monday.

Such a timeline would hand President George W. Bush's successor the task
of bringing U.S. forces home from Iraq, more than six years after Bush
dispatched them to topple Saddam Hussein.

The next U.S. president will take office in January 2009 after an
election in 2008.

Bush's Democratic opponents in Congress want U.S. troops in Iraq, which
currently number about 157,000, to leave sooner.

Asked about media reports that Washington envisioned a substantial
American force remaining in Iraq through mid-2009, General David
Petraeus told ABC News: "Sustainable security is, in fact, what we hope
to achieve.

"It's in our campaign plan. We do think it will take about that amount
of time, as you discussed, to establish the conditions for it."

Petraeus said he and his deputy, Lieutenant-General Raymond Odierno,
were working to determine precisely how many troops would be required.

"The key is really how much force do you need? The campaign plan lays
out the general concepts, the lines of operation and so forth and the
actual plans and the actual force requirements are something that flow
from that. And that's what General Odierno and I are working on now,"
Petraeus said.

Petraeus is due to report back to Washington in six weeks on the success
of the "surge" -- an increase of U.S. troops Bush ordered to Iraq this
year to help restore security, especially around the capital Baghdad.

He told ABC he expected to complete his assessment in time, after which
he would be able to announce when troops can start to come home.

"We do think by about that time, again, that I will have enough of a
sense .. to determine at what point we can in fact begin to send forces
home without replacements," Petraeus said.

) Reuters 2006. All rights reserved.