WASHINGTON — U.S. military commanders in Iraq have outlined troop reduction plans that remain at odds with President-elect Barack Obama’s preferences, but they think they might be able to reconcile the two goals.
Senior military leaders briefing Obama this week described a new military plan for troop withdrawals, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Thursday. The commanders suggested a more gradual reduction than Obama’s proposal for a withdrawal of combat troops within 16 months.
The two plans could be squared by moving to reclassify, or “re-mission,” U.S. troops in Iraq after 16 months to change combat forces to training units or residual forces, according to military officials.
Already military officials have reassigned combat infantry soldiers and Marines to training jobs. Combat forces still in Iraq after May 2010 would probably be needed more for training missions in any case, officials have said.
Obama’s transition team and the Pentagon have moved closer on the question of troop levels since the election.
Although Obama has proposed removing all combat troops in 16 months, he has proposed a residual force after May 2010. Advisers have said the residual force could consist of as many as 50,000 service members.
Obama also has promised to consider the advice of commanders and has said that the pace of the withdrawal must not endanger the security of U.S. troops.
It was not clear under the newest military proposal, crafted by Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, when military leaders would withdraw the last of U.S. combat troops from Iraq. However, the latest proposal would remove more troops in 2009 than commanders have previously outlined, officials said.
Odierno and Gen. David H. Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command, are concerned about having enough troops in Iraq to ensure security surrounding the country’s elections next fall.
Under Odierno’s plan, all U.S. forces would be out of Iraq by the end of 2011, according to Pentagon officials. In the new security agreement between the U.S. and Iraq, Washington has promised to withdraw all of its forces from Iraq by then.
