Rice Speaks of Possible Troop DrawdownWASHINGTON —
Sun Mar 26, 2006 Echoing military commanders, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday the U.S. could withdraw a significant number of troops from Iraq this year if Iraqi forces are able to assume greater control of the country's security.
"I think it's entirely probable that we will see a significant drawdown of American forces over the next year. ... It's all dependent on
events on the ground," the chief American diplomat said.
On the 'ground' in IraqRice: It's a matter of what the
conditions on the ground are and it's a matter of what will be needed to get Iraq back on its feet as quickly as possible. The circumstances under which Iraq will have been liberated will be a coalition effort. There will be a lot of security issues still to deal with in Iraq -- WMD destruction, a range of issues. And so we think it's very important that we not try to prejudge every aspect of the post-conflict administration right now.
April 4, 2003RICE: When I briefed on this last Friday, I think I said that a lot is going to be dictated by
conditions on the ground. And obviously conditions on the ground are shifting
April 8, 2003Bush, whose job approval ratings have fallen below 40 percent in most polls, said withdrawal would be dictated by commanders and by "
conditions on the ground," not by "artificial timetables set by politicians in Washington."
11/30/2005 Question: Mr. President, these rumors about a troop draw-down really took flight when some of your military people starting talking about drawing down in spring. What was that about? Are they out of line?
Bush: I think they were rumors; I think they're speculation. One of the things that we did announce was a joint Iraqi-U.S. commission to look at the security situation in Iraq. Clearly -- my position has been clear, and the position -- therefore, the position of this government is clear, that as Iraqis stand up, we'll stand down. And that means that there's a -- obviously, the
conditions on the ground depend upon our capacity to bring troops home, and the main condition, as to whether or not the Iraqis have got the capability of taking the fight to the enemy.
August 11, 2005"President Bush said Thursday no decision has been made on increasing or decreasing U.S. troop levels in Iraq, saying that as "Iraqis stand up, we will stand down" and that only
conditions on the ground will dictate when it is time for a reduction in U.S. forces."
August 11, 2005McClellan said there are three elements to the U.S. strategy: “the political side, the economic side and the security side,” and described it as “a dynamic strategy that is based on adapting to the enemy and adapting to
conditions on the ground.” During the coming year, he said, “the expectation is that conditions will be changing on the ground,” and with progress in the training of Iraqi security forces, “conditions will permit us to be able to reduce our presence.”
29 November 2005"Any decisions about troop levels will be driven by the
conditions on the ground and the judgment of our commanders, not by artificial timelines set by politicians in Washington, D.C."
-Dick Cheney,
12.6.2005, U.S. Army Garrison, Fort Drum, NY
Some are calling for the U.S. to withdraw from Iraq on a fixed timetable, without regard to
conditions on the ground,” Bush said. “...Withdrawing on an artificial deadline would endanger the American people, would harm our military and make the Middle East less stable. ... In the past, al-Qaida has said American pull-outs of Lebanon and Somalia showed them that America was weak, that it could be made to run. Now, the terrorists think they can make Americans run in Iraq and that is not the case.”
12/9/2005"Our force levels are going to depend on a variety of variables, and the decisions as to the size of U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq will be a function of the
conditions on the ground," the secretary said. Conditions on the ground will reflect the intensity of the insurgency, political progress being made and success in training and equipping Iraqi security forces." Rumsfeld said.
July 19, 2005"Any drawdown will depend on
conditions on the ground": Lieutenant General John Vines, the number two US commander in Iraq
"So what I would think is we would continually assess, bring down part of the forces, assess what the conditions are, what those effects are, and then continue to do that.
"To rapidly cut it without any significant change in conditions or without time to assess them, I would think, would not be a wise course of action," he said.
Vines said he opposed announcing a timetable for withdrawal, as called for by some US lawmakers. "That's an arbitrary decision that's just based on a calendar. And I don't think that necessarily meshes with the conditions the way we might see here in-country," he said.
He noted, however, that the insurgency draws tacit, if not active, support from many Iraqis who oppose the US military presence. "And I think, ultimately, we want to come down as quickly as conditions permit," he said.
2005-06-22Bush: Our goal in Iraq is victory. (Applause.) And in a series of speeches last December, I described the enemy we face in that country, our strategy to defeat them, and how we have adapted our tactics to meet changing
conditions on the ground. Today, I've come before you to discuss what the American people can expect to see in Iraq in the year ahead. We will see more tough fighting and we will see more sacrifice in 2006-
Jan 10, 2006Pace Denies Iraq Pullout Plan-
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Peter Pace said
conditions on the ground will determine when U.S. and coalition forces will depart Iraq.
"We're going to do exactly what we said we were going to do, which is to make the assessments of situations on the ground. The commanders in the theater will make their recommendations up the chain of command, and that will eventually get through the secretary of defense, to the president, for decisions about U.S. troop levels," Pace told "FOX News Sunday.
March 06, 2006
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