Withdrawal of Allied Foreign Troops from Iraq!
March 5, 2006
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
If these reports from two British newspapers, reported by Reuters in Haaretz, are correct, then my prediction of all foreign troops being out of Iraq by 2008 was not too far off.
After all the dust has settled and all foreign troops are withdrawn, I am certain that Iraq will be as anti-Israel and anti-American as it was before Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom. I believe the United States did the right thing in both conflicts – Saddam Hussein had to be stopped, but I have never
believed it was possible to build a democratic government in Iraq.
Even if the two UK papers happen to be correct, I would expect a quick denial by our State Department.
They have no desire to give a timetable to the terrorist groups, and rightly so.
The following paragraph is quoted from our Blog of February 23, 2004, titled “Islamic Posturing for Withdrawal of Foreign Forces from Iraq.”
“I suspect the foreign forces will be withdrawn from Iraq by 2008, and the security turned over to the Iraqi forces now being trained to assume that responsibility.
I will be very surprised if the current government lasts more then a year,
after the American troops pull out.
I believe it will break apart to become an Islamic Republic, and will be one of the 10 nations of Islam that eventually launch a Jihad against Israel.”
Begin Article from Haaretz by Reugers
Reports: U.S., U.K. Plan Full Troop Pullout from Iraq by Spring 2007
March 5, 2006
By Reuters
The United States and Britain are planning to pull all their troops out of Iraq by the spring of 2007, two British newspapers reported in their Sunday editions, quoting unnamed senior defense ministry sources.
The Sunday Telegraph said
the planned pull-out followed an acceptance by the two governments that the presence of foreign troops in Iraq was now a large obstacle to securing peace.
“The British government is understood to be the driving force behind the withdrawal plan but all 24 coalition members are likely to welcome the move, given the growing international unpopularity of the war,” the Telegraph said.
There are currently about 135,000 U.S. soldiers and Marines and about 8,500 British troops in Iraq. The full U.S.-led coalition numbers around 160,000. Italy, which has the fourth largest contingent in Iraq, has said it plans to pull out this year.
Britain’s Sunday Mirror newspaper also reported on the planned withdrawal saying it would happen within 12 months.
U.S. and Iraqi officials have said frequently in the past that foreign troops will be gradually withdrawn from Iraq once Iraqi security forces are capable of guaranteeing security for the 27 million population.
U.S. and British troops have trained around 230,000 Iraqis to take on roles in the police force and a slowly expanding Iraqi army, although both are currently incapable of securing the country on their own.
The U.S. military withdrew around 15,000 troops after Iraq had successful elections in December for its first full-term parliament since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Tensions in Iraq have soared over the past two weeks as fighting between the country’s main Muslim sects has intensified. There is also an on-going two-year-old insurgency being waged by militants against the U.S.-backed Iraqi government, its security forces and foreign troops.
The recent sectarian violence has provoked fears that the country is on the brink of civil war, a scenario that could greatly complicate the role of foreign troops.
However, the Telegraph, quoting a defense official, said that if civil war were to break out, it would likely cause the withdrawal plan to be put off.
End Article from Haaretz by Reugers
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