Talabani Says Iraqis Could Replace Many U.S. Troops

WaPo reported Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said in an interview yesterday that the United States could withdraw as many as 50,000 troops by the end of the year, declaring there are enough Iraqi forces trained and ready to begin assuming control in cities throughout the country.

Although I fear he may be over optimistic in his estimates, it is clear that the US has been successful at training Iraqi forces to defend their own country.

In the interview, Talabani said he planned to discuss reductions in U.S. forces during a private meeting with President Bush today, and said he believed the United States could begin pulling out some troops immediately. "We think that America has the full right to move some forces from Iraq to their country because I think we can replace them [with] our forces," Talabani said. "In my opinion, at least from 40,000 to 50,000 American troops can be [withdrawn] by the end of this year."

CQ blogged Talabani's statement makes clear that the US has worked efficiently to rebuild Iraq's army and national security capability. This kind of training takes time, especially when building from the ground up in the middle of a bloody terrorist insurgency. It has been just seventeen months since the US returned sovereignty to Iraq, and in that time we have built up over 200,000 Iraqi troops with at least preliminary training, and a large percentage now have battle experience and operational expertise, thanks to the impulse of Zarqawi to seize towns and expose his assets to the concerted force of American and Iraqi military units.

Talabani's timeframe may be somewhat optimistic, and the upcoming elections are too important for the US to withdraw anything more than a token prior to the vote. However, it shows that the Iraqis feel increasingly able to handle the insurgency themselves, and if they can reach an accommodation with the Sunnis on a constitution, their optimism may well be justified. Too bad some Americans can't have as much faith in America and our military as Talabani does.

Hyscience blogged Along the lines of withdrawal, Iraq President Talabani states that by the end of the year the United States may withdraw 50,000 soldiers because the ING will be ready to step up to the plate. This is what we all want.