WASHINGTON – The top U.S. commander in Iraq said Sunday that a decision on withdrawing American forces from Iraq’s major cities by a June 30 deadline will be made by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki with U.S. military advice.
Gen. Raymond Odierno did not specifically say whether U.S. troops would leave Iraqi cities by the deadline, which is part of a plan for the gradual drawdown of American forces.
Odierno contends that overall violence in Iraq remains at the low levels seen in the early months after the U.S. invasion in 2003. But, he noted, “there are still some elements” in Iraq able to conduct serious attacks on U.S. and Iraqi security forces.
A roadside bomb killed an American soldier north of Baghdad on Sunday, the sixth U.S. combat death in the past three days.
“So we will continue to conduct assessments along with the government of Iraq as we move forward (to) the June 30th deadline. If we believe that we’ll need troops to maintain a presence in some of the cities, we’ll recommend that, but, ultimately, it will be the decision of Prime Minister Maliki,” Odierno said.
The deadline is included in an agreement negotiated between the governments of al-Maliki and former President George W. Bush last year. President Obama plans to pull combat troops from the country by September 2010 and bring home the last of the force by the end of 2011.