Draft
report on Iraq strategy calls for Syria, Iran
talks, but has no drive for pullout
RAW STORY
Published:
Sunday November 26, 2006
"A draft report on strategies for
Iraq, which will be debated here by a bipartisan
commission beginning on Monday, urges an aggressive
regional diplomatic initiative that includes direct
talks with Iran and Syria, but sets no timetables
for a military withdrawal, according to officials
who have seen all or parts of the document,"
the New York Times is set to report in page one
Monday leads.
Excerpts:
While the diplomatic strategy appears likely
to be accepted, with some amendments, by the 10-member
Iraq Study Group, members of the commission and
outsiders involved in its work said they expected
a potentially divisive debate about timetables
for beginning an American withdrawal.
In interviews, several officials said that announcing
a major withdrawal is the only way to persuade
the government of Iraq's prime minister, Nouri
Kamal al-Maliki, to focus on creating an effective
Iraqi military force.
One proposal would involve putting more American
trainers into Iraqi military units in a last-ditch
improvement effort, coupled with a withdrawal
that in a year would leave between 70,000 and
80,000 American troops in the country, compared
with about 150,000 now.
FULL
REGISTRATION-RESTRICTED STORY HERE.
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