US hastens Iraq withdrawal with eye on Afghanistan

The United States is accelerating its withdrawal from Iraq after security gains made since its troops pulled back from urban areas as it sharpens its focus on the concurrent conflict in Afghanistan and pressing needs there.

The accelerated timetable accompanies concerns that the Iraqi security forces, facing budget constraints, are not procuring the billions of dollars of military equipment authorised by Foreign Military Sales that they will need to assist in fully assuming security responsibility for the still-fragile country.

US commander in Iraq General Raymond Odierno told the House Armed Services Committee on 30 September that he expects to send home another 4,000 US personnel – about half the size of an army brigade – by the end of October, reducing the US contingent to about 120,000.

Noting that this schedule was "a bit faster than we originally planned", Gen Odierno maintained that this would not have an impact on the country's stability and would mark a "deliberate transition of responsibilities to the Iraqi security forces". He added that he worked "very carefully with [US Central Command chief] General David Petraeus in order to identify any capabilities that we have and no longer need that can be used in Afghanistan".