Barack Obama is on the brink of announcing his plan to withdraw US troops from Iraq amid reports it might include a three-month extension to the mission.
The US president pledged during his campaign to pull combat troops out within 16 months. But the new commander-in-chief is now reportedly considering an extension of that timetable to 19 months reports the Financial Times.
Joe Biden, vice-president, said Mr Obama would announce his decision on Friday or “very soon”. Speaking to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, Mr Obama said he would “announce a way forward in Iraq that leaves Iraq to its people and responsibly ends this war”.
Mr Obama has not previously wavered from his commitment to withdraw troops within 16 months as he seeks to end a conflict that has claimed the lives of more than 4,000 US troops and tens of thousands of Iraqi citizens. But on occasion, he has appeared to open the door to a more flexible approach by saying he would listen to his generals.
The Pentagon had provided Mr Obama with a range of withdrawal scenarios – from 16 months to 23 months – that outline the risks involved in pulling troops out according to each timeframe. Mr Obama has also faced the conundrum that a slower withdrawal would complicate his promise to focus more on Afghanistan where Taliban and al-Qaeda militants are resurgent.
While some US officers are keen to reduce forces in Iraq to free up troops for Afghanistan, General Raymond Odierno, the senior commander in Iraq, has pushed for a slower withdrawal to preserve the security gains achieved over the past couple of years.
The Iraqi government on Wednesday said it would prefer that Mr Obama’s withdrawal plan was closer to a deadline included in the recently approved US-Iraqi security agreement, which requires all US troops to leave Iraq by the end of 2011.
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