ASIA!

THE IRAQI TIMELINE

Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker sign off on a pact to pull out all American troops from Iraq by 2011, and US military leaders are satisfied with the provisions.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Admiral Mike Mullen says United States needs to continue to operate in Iraq after the U.N. mandate expires on December 31.

Apart from “clearly moving forward in a measured way,” Mullen believes that the Iraqi security forces have made tremendous progress and should be ready to assume the primary duty of defending their own homeland by the agreement’s 2011 deadline.

“The pace is a good pace, and I think that the pace will more than suffice for what needs to be, in terms of Iraqi security forces taking over totally in their own security in the future.”

When asked about President-elect Barack Obama's pledge to withdraw troops from Iraq in 16 months, he says the military will speed up the withdrawal if ordered but adds that “from the military's perspective, I think it's best to be conditions-based.”

Under this agreement, American forces will also have to vacate Iraqi cities and towns by the end of 2009. Currently they are already out of the towns and cities in most of Iraq. According to the release issued by CENTCOM, coalition forces are in overwatch in the provinces that have returned to provincial Iraqi control.

In Baghdad and Mosul where most of the fighting is, there is a greater need, according to the Admiral,  to train Iraqi security forces.

“The Iraqi security forces being able to provide for their own security is one of the big keys to a successful transition,” he says. “We're focused on that like a laser.”