U.S. Army Spc. Robert Huth, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, Fort Carson, Colo., and an Iraqi soldier secure the area while delivering a generator to a locksmith in Karama, a neighborhood in Mosul, Iraq, on Dec. 3, 2008. DoD photo by Staff Sgt. JoAnn S. Makinano, U.S. Air Force. (Released)Iraq Endgame -- Newsweek
How Will Obama Get U. S. Troops Out? -- Newsweek
When Secretary of Defense Robert Gates accepted President-elect Barack Obama's invitation to stay on as Pentagon chief, the lifelong Republican pointed to a pair of freshly inked security accords with Iraq as influencing his decision. The once-ardent opponent of a firm departure date from Iraq said the just-completed Status of Forces Agreement and companion strategic framework convinced him that debate in Iraq was no longer over when to leave, but rather how. The timetable "bridge has been crossed," Gates told reporters on December 2. "The question is, how do we do this in a responsible way?"
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Britain Leaves Iraq In Shame. The US Won't Go So Quietly -- The Guardian
Obama was elected on the back of revulsion at Bush's war, but greater pressure will be needed to force a full withdrawal
If British troops are indeed withdrawn from Iraq by next June, it will signal the end of the most shameful and disastrous episode in modern British history. Branded only last month by Lord Bingham, until recently Britain's most senior law lord, as a "serious violation of international law", the aggression against Iraq has not only devastated an entire country and left hundreds of thousands dead - it has also been a political and military humiliation for the invading powers.
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