Obama Would Withdraw from Iraq...Maybe

Attention Obama supporters! (Hillary supporters too.)

Hasty U.S. troop cuts risk Iraq gains: Petraeus

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The commander of U.S. forces in Iraq advocated a cautious approach to cutting American firepower on Monday, saying that security gains could be sacrificed if troops left too quickly.

Five extra combat brigades brought in last year as part of President George W. Bush's "surge" policy are scheduled to depart by mid-year. Iraqi and U.S. officials say the extra troops helped stave off all-out sectarian war in Iraq.

"We're going to cut one quarter of our combat power in a period of overall 6-8 months," General David Petraeus told Reuters in an interview.

"That's a very substantial reduction and we want to be prudent in what we do following that so we don't jeopardize the gains that our troops and our Iraqi partners have fought so hard to achieve."

With the Democratic candidates to be the next U.S. president calling for fewer forces to be involved in the unpopular war and the military strained by heavy commitments in Afghanistan and Iraq, Petraeus is under pressure to timetable more departures.

But he was reluctant to be pinned down early, cautioning that al Qaeda was not yet fully beaten, the embers of sectarian hatred could be relit, political reconciliation needs to take root and Iraq's own security forces need to mature.

"We'll assess very carefully the possibility of further reductions," said Petraeus, without putting a timescale on how long it would take for him to determine the security situation mid-year. "The gains are in some areas fragile and tenuous."

Any Democrat president that took out troops without the blessing of the US Military would do so at great political risk. Ain't gonna happen.