Gates: U.S. Prepared To Be In Iraq After 2011
An agreement between the U.S. and Iraq near the end of George W. Bush's presidency mandated that all U.S. troops leave Iraq by Dec. 31st, 2011. In his address today, the president said, "I intend to remove all U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2011."
But Gates said that if the Iraqis want U.S. troops to remain and take the initiative to craft a new agreement for a U.S. presence beyond that period, the U.S. should be prepared to keep a small contingent in the country "for training, helping them with their equipment and perhaps some intelligence support."
The president also pledged today to have all combat forces out of Iraq by August 31st of next year, though between 35,000 and 50,000 "non-combat" troops will remain in the country.
Hotsheet asked Gates to clarify how these remaining troops will differ in their mission from those currently in the country, since though they will be designated "non-combat," they will be combat capable.
"They will have [combat] capability, but the units will be gone, and more importantly the mission will have changed," Gates said. "And so the notion of being engaged in combat in the way we have been up until now will be completely different."
Gates later said the "clear idea is to consolidate U.S. forces into a few places where both civilian and military would be." He said it "remains to be seen" whether the units remaining in Iraq will be new units or "remissioned" combat units, but stressed that either way, they will be engaged in a "new, much more limited mission."
Gates said the decision to keep combat forces in Iraq for 19 months – not the 16 months the president promised on the campaign trail – grew out of "real concern about "get[ing] through this year and all of the elections that will take place" in Iraq. (The country is expected to hold national elections by December.)
After that, he said, the thinking was that combat troops should remain for "a period of adjustment after those national elections." To try to get combat troops out by May, he said, would have meant "significant logistical and security issues."
President Obama "balanced the risks of staying longer or coming out sooner," Gates said, noting that both himself and joint chiefs chairman Adm. Michael Mullen have "very positive" feelings about the president's ultimate decision.