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Iraq general says army not ready for pullout US troops
Under the Obama administration’s plans, US forces are due to start withdrawing from Iraq at the end of August, apart from 50,000 troops who will support and train Iraqi forces before leaving the country by the end of 2011.
“At this point, the withdrawal is going well, because they are still here,” Zebari was quoted as saying. “But the problem will start after 2011 -- the politicians must find other ways to fill the void after 2011.”
“If I were asked about the withdrawal, I would say to politicians: the US army must stay until the Iraqi army is fully ready in 2020.”
Violence in Iraq has fallen since the peak of sectarian warfare in 2006-2007, but the number of violent civilian deaths, from daily bombings, shootings and other attacks, rose sharply in July.
US officials have said they expect violence to worsen as al-Qaeda insurgents exploit the failure of political factions to agree on a new government after a parliamentary election in March.
In Washington, US officials gave a positive assessment of the situation in Iraq on Wednesday, emphasizing the growing capability of Iraq’s security forces.
US wants Iraq to pay bill for war victims
Off a dusty street flanked by piles of rubble and bombed-out car skeletons, the Saleh family is rebuilding their home with American aid money they got because three family members were accidentally killed in crossfire between US forces and insurgents.
In another neighborhood of the battleground city of Ramadi, a new boat motor and fishing nets are tucked into a corner of the Zeyadan family’s courtyard, bought with money from the same US aid fund.
The aid for these families and hundreds of others like them came from a special fund earmarked by Congress for innocent civilians killed in US military operations in Iraq.
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