troop withdrawal

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Military Outlining Modest Afghan Withdrawal

But only a small one

(Newser) - US military officers are drawing up plans for a modest troop reduction in Afghanistan that’s designed to meet President Obama’s July deadline without conceding the ground they’ve gained in the restive south. Preliminary plans call for the withdrawal of 5,000 troops in July, and another 5,...

The Big Question: Should 10K US Troops Stay in Iraq?

Iraqi officials worry longer US presence could spur sectarian violence

(Newser) - The US and Iraq have been discussing the possibility of leaving 10,000 US troops in Iraq after the planned withdrawal date, insiders tell the Wall Street Journal . But Iraqi leaders worry that the move could strain sectarian relations and prompt protests echoing others in the Arab world. US leaders,...

Biden to Karzai: We'll Stay Past 2014
Biden to Karzai:
We'll Stay Past 2014
Jan 12, 2011 11:53 AM CST

Biden to Karzai: We'll Stay Past 2014

But he promises US will 'not be an occupying force'

(Newser) - So much for “hell or high water.” Joe Biden met with Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan yesterday, and emerged telling reporters that the US would be willing to keep troops in the country past 2014, provided the Afghan government wanted them there. “We have moved into a new...

Troops on Course to Leave Afghanistan in July: Report

White House cites 'fragile' gains in region

(Newser) - The US is “setting conditions” to begin an Afghanistan troop withdrawal in July as planned, says a White House report. While President Obama’s strategy in the region is “showing progress,” the document says, “the challenge remains to make our gains durable and sustainable,” the...

US Plans 2014 End to Afghan Combat

Phased withdrawal echoes Iraq exit strategy

(Newser) - The Obama administration has worked up a plan to complete the US combat mission in Afghanistan by 2014, gradually shifting security into the hands of Afghan troops, insiders tell the New York Times . The piecemeal strategy, which echoes the phased Iraq withdrawal, will be presented at a NATO meeting in...

Sen. McConnell Asked Bush to Pull Iraq Troops

... while denouncing the Democrats for doing the same

(Newser) - The controversy keeps on flowing from the pages of George Bush's memoir . The top Republican in the Senate urged the president to "bring some troops home from Iraq" to help prevent the party from taking a beating in the 2006 mid-term elections, Bush writes in Decision Points. At the...

US Left 30K Iraqi Detainees to Be Tortured
 US Left 30K 
 Iraqi Detainees 
 to Be Tortured 
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Sep 13, 2010 5:41 PM CDT

US Left 30K Iraqi Detainees to Be Tortured

Troop pullout leaves a slew of untried inmates

(Newser) - The US is turning a blind eye to the systematic abuse of detainees in Iraq's prisons, a report by Amnesty International claims. The transfer of prisoners from US-run detention centers to Iraqi facilities is a less-discussed aspect of the American pullout, but has flooded a system that remains rife with...

Roadside Bomb Brings US Afghan Toll to 21 in 5 Days

Petraeus: US withdrawal will be 'thinning out,' not abrupt departure

(Newser) - Four US troops were killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan today, bringing the American death toll to 21 since Friday. The US death toll for August now stands at 53, almost all of whom were killed in southern and eastern Afghanistan, where the Taliban insurgency is strongest, the...

As Troops Leave Iraq, Many Simply Call It 'a Job'

Mood shifts as the US presence shifts

(Newser) - As combat operations wind down , the American troops who remain in Iraq must come to terms with a new reality: What was once, in some minds at least, a war of liberation, is now a mostly a training and diplomatic mission. “It’s almost not worth the trip,”...

America to Double Civilian Force in Iraq

Security contractors to swell to 7K

(Newser) - The US military may be rolling out of Iraq , but American civilians are not. To protect its outposts, the State Department plans to double the number of private security guards on the ground, finds the New York Times . As many as 7,000 guards will search for roadside bombs, fly...

Petraeus: 2011 Afghan Exit Date May Not Work

US-led coalition can still succeed, he says

(Newser) - In his first public remarks since taking over the command of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan last month, Gen. David Petraeus told the New York Times that he will not be bound by Barack Obama's 2011 drawdown date. "The president didn’t send me over here to seek...

US Abandons Afghan Valley Where 42 Americans Died

Five-year Afghanistan battle deemed a mistake

(Newser) - The last US troops left Korengal Valley this morning, ending five years of seemingly pointless combat. Before dawn an American captain showed local village elders around what used to be the US base, the Washington Post reports, showing them the bullet-ridden crane and full fuel bladder they’d traded for...

US Fears $53B in Iraq Reconstruction Will Go to Ruin

Projects from power plants to hospitals are at risk of sitting idle

(Newser) - As the American troop withdrawal nears, US officials fear the $53 billion taxpayers have spent since 2003 to rebuild Iraq will be squandered. Facilities from power plants and water treatment facilities to schools and hospitals are at risk of being neglected or abandoned for lack of funding or expertise, the...

New Challenge for US in Iraq: Pulling Out

Military faces mammoth task hauling equipment out of Iraq as withdrawal gathers pace

(Newser) - American forces in Iraq have devoted a full sixth of their manpower to a task one commander compares to moving the entire population of Alaska across the world—with all their stuff. The military, in the biggest movement of personnel and material in over 40 years, is dismantling some 300...

No Afghanistan Withdrawal, Obama Tells Lawmakers

But still undecided on proposed buildup

(Newser) - President Obama won’t commit to sending more troops to Afghanistan, but neither will he withdraw any, he told congressional leaders in a White House meeting today that included a sharp exchange between the president and Republican Sen. John McCain. Obama wanted to “dispense with the straw man argument...

In Wanat, US Learns Value, Pain of Retreat

In Waygal Valley, leaving has helped the cause.

(Newser) - Days after the bloody battle that has come to be called the "Black Hawk Down" of Afghanistan, US troops left the the isolated Afghan village of Wanat. Fourteen months later, they haven’t returned, giving the Taliban free reign in the Waygal Valley—but the retreat is starting to...

White House Braces for Anti-War Push From Left

Administration fears liberal call for pullout

(Newser) - Administration officials are concerned that pressure from the left could drive the Afghanistan war effort off the rails early, Politico reports. Rising casualties, along with doubts about strategy and the recent election, are raising fears the White House could be denied a chance to show concrete progress in the country....

29 Killed in Baghdad Mosque Bombings

(Newser) - Bombs exploded near five Shiite mosques in Baghdad today, killing at least 29 people, according to Iraqi police and hospital officials. The bombings, apparently part of a coordinated attack that targeted worshipers leaving Friday prayers, shattered a period of relative calm in the Iraqi capital. The deaths raised to at...

Gates Makes Surprise Visit to Iraq
Gates Makes
Surprise Visit to Iraq
Jul 28, 2009 3:17 AM CDT

Gates Makes Surprise Visit to Iraq

(Newser) - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has landed in Iraq for a surprise visit, the AP reports. He'll meet with troops stationed at a command post in southern Iraq who are largely serving as advisers. He's also expected to see Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and visit the restive Kurdish region....

Iraq Pullout on Target: Obama, Maliki

Obama plays down Iraqi limits on US forces as 'differences in strategy'

(Newser) - President Obama met with Nouri al-Maliki today and vowed to keep to his timetable that has all US forces out of Iraq by 2011, the Washington Post reports. The Iraqi prime minister said that his country’s security forces are now “highly capable” of handling the threat posed by...

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