Obama: Complete withdrawal by end of '08

By | Thursday, September 13, 2007

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Sen. Barack Obama yesterday called for the immediate withdrawal of American troops from Iraq at a steady pace, with all combat troops either at home or redeployed elsewhere by December 2008.

"We must get out strategically and carefully, removing troops from secure areas first, and keeping troops in more volatile areas until later, but our drawdown should proceed at a steady pace of one or two brigades each month," Mr. Obama said.

A day after hearing the progress report from Army Gen. David H. Petraeus to Congress, Mr. Obama rejected the general's recommendations and said Iraq's government has failed to meet its own goals.

His withdrawal proposal reinforces the Iraq war as the major battleground among the Democratic presidential candidates, who have spent the campaign competing with each other for support from the party's antiwar voters.

Yesterday, Mr. Obama's adversaries said his plan doesn't go far enough, with former Sen. John Edwards saying the pace of withdrawal moves too slowly and sounds too much like the general's recommendation to President Bush to withdraw 30,000 troops by July.

"Taking credit for this gradual withdrawal is like taking credit for gravity," Mr. Edwards said. "These 30,000 troops would have to be withdrawn anyway, unless the president extended tours to an unconscionable 18 months."

Another Democratic candidate, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Mr. Obama's plan falls short because it would still leave some noncombat troops behind.

"Senator Obama has offered to turn the page in Iraq, but I think we need a new book," Mr. Richardson said.

Even as Democrats try to outflank each other in embracing withdrawal, the Republican presidential field is holding firm in backing Gen. Petraeus' strategy, with Sen. John McCain even calling it the "McCain surge" and posting a timeline on his Web site to prove he's been calling for this type of military campaign for years.

Meanwhile former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney went straight at Mr. Obama, telling Fox News Channel the Democrat has disqualified himself from being president because of his timeline for withdrawal, coupled with other statements announcing he would take unilateral military action in Pakistan, an ally, and would meet with enemy leaders.

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