Obama says committed to Iraq withdrawal timetable

[cal04]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L22573341.htm

* Obama committed to 16-month withdrawal plan

* Obama says al Qaeda and Taliban planning U.S. attacks

* Obama says tribal leaders fear "precipitous" pullout

* UK's Brown sees mission in Iraq changing next year

AMMAN, July 22 (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Tuesday he was committed to a 16-month timetable for a U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq, after a trip in which he met Iraqi leaders and U.S. officials.

Obama was speaking in the Jordanian capital as part of a tour of the region in which he has sought to shift the focus of U.S. military efforts from Iraq to Afghanistan, where al Qaeda and the Taliban are resurgent.

(snip)
"What I propose is a steady, deliberate drawdown over the course of 16 months and I emphasised that to them," he added.

He also acknowledged that the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus, had expressed opposition to a withdrawal timetable but said as president he would have to look at the broader picture.