| Question is whether Bambi is listening ... |
BAGHDAD - IraqÂ’s defence minister on Saturday warned of the dangers of withdrawing U.S. forces before the end of 2011, a date set with Washington in a security pact opposed by some lawmakers.
Defence Minister General Abdel Qader Jassim said withdrawing before that date would threaten Iraq’s oil exports, enable neighbouring countries to encroach on Iraqi territory and give free reign to foreign spies. “The period of the timetabled withdrawal gives us enough time to complete our abilities—training, combat and technical—and secures us great support,” Jassim told a news conference in Baghdad.
| Correct. The Iraqi forces have made impressive strides, but most experts in our own military say that the Iraqis need considerable work on training and logistics. That's something we can really do well in the next couple of years, and in that time the politicians can continue their slow progress on reconciliation. |
“Successive governments have not succeeded in disarming the heavy and medium weapons of, and I am not naming any names, the armed blocs and armed wings,” he added, justifying the pact’s 2011 withdrawal date.
The security pact governs the U.S. troop presence in Iraq and will replace a United Nations mandate which expires at the end of the year. Iraqi politicians are under pressure to pass the deal to avoid an extension of the mandate.
The defence minister said Iraq’s navy was not ready to assume responsibility from U.S.-led forces for protecting offshore terminals that export the country’s crude. “If we evict them in an unplanned or sudden way, then ... piracy will begin here ... the ability to export will be hugely threatened,” he said.
Some countries shell certain areas of Iraq daily, he said, without naming any, and the presence of U.S. forces deters them from expanding their operations. Turkey frequently shells northern Iraq in its hunt for Kurdish separatist rebels. |