Pentagon makes contingency plan for troop pullout (click title to entry, thank you)
The Pentagon is making contingency plans for a gradual withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq, according to US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who called the planning a "priority".
In a letter delivered this week to Senator Hillary Clinton, a New York Democrat and presidential candidate who tangled with the Pentagon to learn whether such plans exist, Gates said he was actively involved in drafting them.
He said he would work with the Senate Armed Services Committee to find a way to keep senators informed about the "conceptual thinking, factors, considerations, questions and objectives associated with drawdown planning".
"You may rest assured that such planning is indeed taking place with my active involvement as well as that of senior military and civilian officials and our commanders in the field," Gates said. "I consider this contingency planning to be a priority for this department."
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman stressed the Pentagon was not planning for a quick or wholesale withdrawal of forces. A phased reduction would be in line with a Bush Administration view that some long-term US presence in Iraq may be needed....
