Gates hints at faster Iraqi pullout if leaders curb feuds

IRAQ WARS

US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (R) shakes hands with Iraqi Kurdish regional president Massud Barzani before their meeting in Arbil on June 29, 2009. Gates held talks with Barzani on the second day of a surprise trip to Iraq in which the US Defence Minister has spoken of a new era in Iraq as US troops play a less dominant role. Photo courtesy of AFP.

Iraq mulls purchase of US F-16 fighters: US general
The top US commander in Iraq said Baghdad would not be able to defend its air space against enemy attack by 2011, when US forces are required to depart under a security pact. "In order to protect your airspace, you've got to have radars, you've got to have some sort of an aircraft if someone penetrates your airspace," General Ray Odierno told reporters on Tuesday. The Iraqi government is looking at buying US F-16 fighters to address the problem, he said, echoing earlier statements from US officials. As Iraq moves to bolster its military, Baghdad officials had expressed an interest in the Lockheed Martin warplanes as a way to defend the country's skies, Odierno told reporters. He said US Air Force advisers would help Baghdad draw up options, which could include fighters from France or Russia. "We're going to bring a team over here from the Air Force to do an assessment and tell us what they can handle. We're not the only ones who can deliver them multi-role fighters," he said. "They could buy Mirages from France or MIGs from Russia," he added. But he said Iraqi officials had told their American counterparts that the F-16s were "more reliable." Iraqi Defence Minister Abdel Wader Obeidi earlier said Baghdad was exploring how best to develop a modern air force but did not say the F-16s were the government's top choice. He added that Iraq would pursue the best option. "Wherever we can get it, we're going to obtain it," Obeidi told a joint press conference with US Defence Secretary Robert Gates. Pentagon officials have stressed that Congress and other government agencies would have to weigh in before any purchase of F-16s could be approved. Odierno said yet another option would be to supply F-16s that have been retired from the US fleet. The general said he was unsure if US aircraft could continue to patrol Iraq after 2011 under the terms of the security agreement with Baghdad. The Iraqis also were taking steps to improve security at vital ports and oil platforms, Odierno said. Baghdad has bought 14 patrol boats to safeguard oil infrastructure in its territorial waters but still needed more minesweepers, Odierno said.

by Staff Writers
Baghdad (AFP) July 29, 2009
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday dangled the prospect of a faster withdrawal of US troops as he urged Iraq's Arab and Kurdish leaders to settle their feuds.

Gates told reporters after a two-day visit to Iraq that there was "at least some chance for a modest acceleration" of plans for the drawdown of American troops this year.

Citing his talks with the top US commander in Iraq, he said a stepped up withdrawal was possible "because of the way General (Ray) Odierno sees the way things going" amid declining violence and increasingly capable Iraqi security forces.

The current plan foresees two combat brigade teams departing by the end of the year but Gates said "maybe one more" brigade could be withdrawn as well before elections in January.

The precise number of additional troops that might be withdrawn remains unclear but a combat brigade comprises about 3,000 to 4,000 troops and is often accompanied by supporting units. There are 14 combat brigade teams deployed in Iraq.

Violence has dropped markedly throughout Iraq in recent months though attacks increased in the run-up to the US military's pullback from urban areas last month, with 437 Iraqis killed -- the highest death toll in 11 months.

Gates spoke after a meeting with Massud Barzani, who was re-elected on Wednesday as president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, following talks on Tuesday with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Baghdad.

"He reminded his hosts that we have all sacrificed too much in blood and treasure to see the gains of the last two years lost to political differences," his press secretary Geoff Morrell.

Gates told the Kurdish leader in the regional capital Arbil that it is vital both sides move quickly before US forces leave Iraq.

"He urged them to take advantage of our remaining time in Iraq to settle some of these disputed issues they have with the central government in Baghdad," Morrell told reporters accompanying Gates as he flew from Iraq to Turkey.

Barzani, who secured his re-election with 69.57 percent of the vote from Saturday's election, later said Maliki was expected soon in Kurdistan.

"He (Maliki) will visit Kurdistan soon, to discuss and to solve all pending problems between us and Baghdad," Barzani told AFP.

Odierno said on Tuesday that tensions between Iraqi Kurds and Arabs over boundaries and oil revenues represent the biggest threat to the country's stability.

Kurdish demands to expand their autonomous region in northern Iraq to include the Kirkuk oil fields and other districts has triggered an increasingly heated war of words with the Shiite-led central government.

Odierno said: "We think that many of the insurgent groups are trying to exploit Kurd-Arab tensions in the north."

The US military is closely monitoring the situation and has set up liaison offices with commanders of Kurdish militia and Baghdad government forces to try to prevent tensions from escalating, he said.

Gates, speaking to reporters aboard his plane on Wednesday, said no decision has been taken on the drawdown and he will wait for advice from Odierno in the next few months. "It really depends on circumstances."

Under a timetable approved by President Barack Obama, all US combat troops are due to pull out of Iraq by the end of August 2010 and a security pact with Baghdad requires all American forces to leave by the end of 2011.

Only months ago, US officers and analysts warned of a fragile situation in Iraq that could be jeopardised if American forces were pulled out too quickly.

The Obama administration has been anxious to free up troops and resources for a military buildup in Afghanistan.

Gates said the fact that Odierno was considering a faster drawdown showed that security trends were promising in Iraq after US forces pulled out of cities and towns at the end of last month.

"It is an indicator of his view that things are going pretty well following June 30th," he said, ruling out any scaling back of the drawdown.

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IRAQ WARS

US touts new era as Iraqi forces take lead
Baghdad (AFP) July 28, 2009
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday spoke of a new era in Iraq with American troops playing a less dominant role as Baghdad's security forces increasingly take the lead. In his first visit to the country since US troops withdrew from cities and towns at the end of last month under a security pact with Baghdad, Gates portrayed the transition as a success so far. "The feedback I ... read more

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