US must ease grip when Iraqi army ready-US general

[ECH1969]

LONDON (Reuters) - The United States must not hesitate to hand over to the Iraqi military when it is ready and banish the appearance of occupation that may hinder political progress, a senior U.S. commander said on Wednesday.

Major General Douglas Lute, head of operations for the U.S. military's Central Command, also said American planners were preparing for a "long war" with Islamist militants who may move on from Iraq and Afghanistan if those countries stabilize.

Lute said his troops would not hand over to Iraqis before they were ready but U.S. forces must overcome an instinctive reluctance to move on when the insurgents were not yet beaten.

"We believe that at some point in order to break this dependency... that you simply have to back off and let the Iraqis step forward," he added.

http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=1080002&tw=wn_wire_story

[dflprincess]

1. Another song I've heard before

Only 35 years ago the title was "Vietnamization"

[Roland99]

2. Isn't it up to the SOVEREIGN nation of Iraq to decide?

[obxhead]

3. we stay til the jobs done

or the oil is gone, whichever comes first.