Mullen, Gates confident in pullout process

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Mullen, Gates confident in pullout process

The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Mar 1, 2009 9:36:39 EST

WASHINGTON — The top U.S. uniformed military official says he’s comfortable with the president’s decision on a troop pullout timetable from Iraq.

And Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he thinks it is “fairly remote” that conditions in Iraq will change enough to alter significantly President Barack Obama’s plan to withdraw U.S. troops.

Appearing on “Fox News Sunday” and CNN’s “State of the Union,” Adm. Mike Mullen says he was able to offer his best military advice to President Barack Obama. The Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman is reluctant to talk about “winning and losing” in Iraq. But he says the conditions are in place for the Baghdad government to successfully take control of the country.

Mullen says Obama listened extensively to the American military leadership and U.S. commanders in Iraq before announcing last week that the combat mission would end on Aug. 31, 2010.

Under Obama’s plan, the 142,000 U.S. forces in Iraq would be drawn down to between 35,000 and 50,000 troops by the 2010 date. All forces would be withdrawn by the last day of 2011.

Gates says Obama has noted that he always retains the authority to change a plan if it’s in the national security interests of the United States.

But Gates says he doesn’t think he or others involved in the strategy believe a change will prove necessary. He characterized the likelihood of significant adjustments to the plan as “fairly remote.”

Appearing on “Meet the Press” on NBC, Gates described the plan to remove the bulk of U.S. troops from Iraq by August 2010 as a product of dialogue involving Obama, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the commanders.