US withdrawal likely unless Iraq violence falls: study

[Barrett808]

Source: AFP

US withdrawal likely unless Iraq violence falls: study
by Jim Mannion

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A US withdrawal from Iraq may be "impossible to resist" unless violence against civilians falls substantially, a study funded by the US Air Force warned Wednesday.

The study by the RAND Corporation said that reducing violence against Iraqi civilians should be the primary objective of US strategy as long as US forces are in Iraq.

And it said the United States was likely to continue its approach to stabilizing the country "until and unless violence escalates to the point that US officials decide that withdrawal is preferable."

But it added that "we are not optimistic about success in the near term" and warned that pressure to withdraw US troops will become more and more difficult to resist if they cannot reduce the violence.

"If the number of Iraqis who die violently does not fall substantially by the summer of 2007, domestic political pressure to withdraw US forces may become impossible to resist," the report said.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070808/wl_mideast_afp/usiraqmilitarystudy

[Nickster]

1. Huh? My head is spinning. We must stay because the violence is up and that is a sign that

we are "winning". Now....We must leave unless the violence stops. Wha?

[ohio2007]

3. Catch 22. ...if peace breaks out,we are stuck in the quicksand

go figger.Who paid for the study?

[Teaser]

2. I'd recommend tuning out all Iraq news until 1 month

after Petraeus report. Right now is the pre-report propaganda blitz. Then we'll get the actual report itself, followed by congratulatory post report analysis.

It won't be until october that we start to see real news come out of Iraq again.