Gen. Jones to House Armed Services Committee: 'Yes' We Can Begin To Leave Iraq

[Hissyspit]

Run time: 03:15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xCVVChdV38   Posted on YouTube: September 07, 2007 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: September 07, 2007 By DU Member: Hissyspit Views on DU: 586

 
Gen. Jones: ‘Yes,’ we can begin to withdraw from Iraq. In a House Armed Services Committee hearing this afternoon, Chairman Ike Skelton (D-MO) asked Gen. James Jones to comment on his report’s recommendation that the U.S. should reduce its footprint in Iraq. The Jones report suggests “significant reductions” in the “size of our national footprint in Iraq.” Skelton asked Jones if this is a call to reduce troop levels, and Jones answered yes.

[stillcool]

1. Sounds to me....

like same old, same old...

Sep 6, 2007
Commission Recommends U.S Reduce Its Footprints In Iraq

(RTTNews) - A 20-member commission consisting of retired senior military and police officers recommended in its report to the Senate Armed Services Committee that the United States lighten its footprint in Iraq to counter the image that it's an "occupying force."

Retired Marine Corps General James Jones, who led the commission, released the report on Thursday. The report, the latest in a series of studies that Congress commissioned in May, concluded that Iraqi security forces would not be able to take control of their country in the next 18 months. "The force footprint should be adjusted in our view to represent an expeditionary capability and to combat a permanent-force image of today's presence," said Gen. Jones.

According to the commission, if Iraqi troops were to be given more of a lead, as envisioned by the panel, it is still expected U.S. troops will have to play a substantial role by providing logistics, continued training, and other support. "This will make an eventual departure much easier," Jones said.
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20070906%5cACQRTT200709061432RTTRADERUSEQUITY_1048.htm&

Commander Sees Shift In Role of U.S. Troops
Force Would Focus On Training Iraqis
By Bradley Graham
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 7, 2004; Page A01
CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar, Dec. 6 -- Army Gen. John P. Abizaid, the commander of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf region, raised the possibility Monday that U.S. forces in Iraq could start to be reshaped as early as next year to reduce the number of combat troops and concentrate on the development of Iraqi security forces

Bush faults Iraqi forces
He acknowledges mixed results from U.S. training
David E. Sanger, Richard W. Stevenson, New York Times
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
(12-21) 04:00 PST Washington -- President Bush acknowledged on Monday that, 20 months after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the United States has encountered only "mixed" success in training Iraqi troops to secure the country and that it was "unacceptable" that some Iraqi units had fled as soon as they faced hostile fire.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/1 ...

Posted 3/28/2005 8:33 PM Updated 3/28/2005 8:39 PM
Iraqi troop training: signs of progress
By Peter Grier, The Christian Science Monitor
Due to missteps and a misjudgment about the strength of the insurgency at its onset, the U.S. really did not begin a concerted training effort until 10 months ago, said Cordesman. "The Iraqis actually involved in shaping Iraq's new forces are not pessimistic," he noted. "Most believe that Iraqi forces are growing steadily better with time, will acquire the experience and quality to deal with much of the insurgency during 2005, and should be able to secure much of the country by 2006."
Enough progress has apparently been made that U.S. officials are becoming more explicit about when American troops might start coming home. On Sunday, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, Army Gen. George Casey, predicted on CNN's "Late Edition" that the U.S. should be able to make a "very substantial reduction" in the number of forces within a year.
Copyright c 2005 The Christian Science Monitor. All rights
Iraqi troop training: signs of progress

House Passes Inslee Amendment to Lift Funding Limit on Iraqi Troop Training
Accelerates Replacement of American Troops with Iraqi Security Forces
20 June 2005
http://www.house.gov/inslee/issues/iraq/iraq_troop_trai ...


Huge Progress" Made In Training Iraq Troops : US General
Washington (AFP) Nov 07, 2005
"Huge progress" is being made in training Iraqi combat troops, and 24 homegrown battalions have now taken control of assigned territory, the general formerly in charge of the massive program said Monday.
Petraeus said that according to latest declassified figures, 40 battalions of Iraqi soldiers were capable of leading counter insurgency operations with the help of US or coalition troops.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2005-03-28-Iraq..