BAGHDAD — Outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker said Thursday that the greatest error the United States could make in Iraq would be a hurried withdrawal. However, he expressed confidence after talks with President Barack Obama that the new chief executive won’t make that mistake.
“It’s one that I do not think the U.S. is going to make,” Crocker said. “If it were to be a precipitous withdrawal . . . that could be very dangerous, but I think it’s clear that that’s not the direction in which this is trending.”
Crocker and Army Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, took part in a video conference about the war with Obama and Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Wednesday, the president’s first full day in office.
Crocker said that Obama reiterated the words of his inaugural address, in which he said that he’d withdraw American troops from Iraq “responsibly.” During his campaign, Obama pledged a 16-month withdrawal plan. That would mean pulling out U.S. forces more than a year before the Dec. 31, 2011, deadline in a long-term security agreement that took effect Jan. 1. The agreement can be amended if the United States and Iraq agree to change it.
“We’re worried about a too-swift withdrawal,” Crocker said. “That’s when I think the spirit of compromise, of accommodation, of focus on institutional development, all of that could run the risk of getting set aside.”
He said the reaction in Iraq would be, “Uh, oh, we had better pull back, dig the trenches, build the berms and get ready for whatever comes next.”
