The US and Britain are planning to pull all their troops out of Iraq by the spring of next year, two British newspapers reported yesterday, quoting unnamed senior defense ministry sources.
The Sunday Telegraph said the planned pull-out followed an acceptance by the two governments that the presence of foreign troops in Iraq was now a large obstacle to securing peace.
"The British government is understood to be the driving force behind the withdrawal plan but all 24 coalition members are likely to welcome the move, given the growing international unpopularity of the war," the Telegraph said.
12 months
The Sunday Mirror newspaper also reported on the planned withdrawal of US and UK troops, saying it would happen within 12 months.
The Bush administration and Pentagon have stated repeatedly there is no timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq, and a US military spokesman repeated that on Saturday.
"We've made no such plans," said Pentagon spokesman Major Paul Swiergosz.
A defense ministry spokesman in London rejected the reports, saying the British government had not altered its position set out by Defense Secretary John Reid on Feb. 7. Reid said then that the "time was approaching" when coalition forces could begin leaving Iraq, but refused to give any detailed timetable.
There are currently about 135,000 US soldiers and Marines and about 8,500 British troops in Iraq. The full US-led coalition numbers around 160,000.
South Korean troops
Yesterday, South Korea, which has the third-largest number of troops, announced that a planned one-third cut in its military in Iraq -- from 3,200 troops to 2,300 -- will begin next month, according to Major General Jung Seung-jo, chief of the South Korean troops stationed in the Kurdish region of Irbil in northern Iraq, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.
The Defense Ministry in Seoul confirmed Jung's remarks.
Italy, which has the fourth-largest contingent in Iraq, has said it plans to pull out this year.
Gradual pullout
US and Iraqi officials have said frequently in the past that foreign troops will be gradually withdrawn from Iraq once Iraqi security forces are capable of guaranteeing security for the 27 million population.
US and British troops have trained 230,000 Iraqis to take on roles in the police force and the Iraqi army, although both are currently incapable of securing the nation on their own.
The US military withdrew around 15,000 troops after Iraq had successful elections in December for its first full-term parliament since the overthrow of former president Saddam Hussein in 2003.
The recent sectarian violence in Iraq has provoked fears that the country is on the brink of civil war, a scenario that could greatly complicate the role of foreign troops.
also see stories:
UK faces military overstretch crisis: report
Iraqi PM faces mounting pressure to stand down
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats