Bremer: U.S. Will Leave Iraq if Requested

[Drift3r]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040514/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_us_withdrawal_1

Bremer: U.S. Will Leave Iraq if Requested

Fri May 14, 8:15 AM ET


BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. governor of Iraqi told regional officials Friday that the United States would leave Iraq if requested to do so by the new Iraqi government ? although he thinks such a move is unlikely.

L. Paul Bremer told a delegation from Iraq's Diyala province that American forces would not stay where they were unwelcome.

"If the provisional government asks us to leave we will leave," Bremer said, referring to an Iraqi administration due to take power June 30. "I don't think that will happen, but obviously we don't stay in countries where we're not welcome."

The United States plans to keep substantial military forces here after the June 30 handover, prompting critics to question whether Iraqis will gain genuine sovereignty.

American officials have said that the terms of the U.S. military role will ultimately be determined by a status of forces agreement to be signed with the new Iraqi government.

On Thursday, Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman said the new Iraqi government will not have the authority to evict American forces from Iraq, quickly reversing a statement made minutes earlier before a House of Representatives panel.

Grossman's comments reflect the difficult balance the U.S. government is trying to strike as it moves closer to the June 30 handover.

When first asked by House International Relations Committee members whether an interim Iraqi government could force U.S. troops to leave, Grossman stressed that Iraqi leaders wanted them to remain. He also said that the Iraqi interim constitution and a U.N. resolution gave them authority to do so.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican, kept asking Grossman, "If they ask us to leave, we will leave, will we not?" Pressed for a yes-or-no answer, Grossman eventually said yes.

But he later agreed with another panelist, Lt. Gen. Walter L. Sharp, that the interim constitution and U.N. resolution gave U.S.-led forces responsibility for Iraqi security for the immediate future.

After the hearing, Grossman was asked if that meant U.S. forces would not leave if asked by the interim government. "That is correct," he said.

U.S. officials have said that the terms of the American military role will ultimately be determined by a status of forces agreement to be signed with the new Iraqi government.

Though some officials have said such an agreement could be signed with the interim government, Grossman said it would be negotiated with the government formed after elections expected in January.

 

[Martin]

Wow, I certainly did not expect that. Now my inner cynic cannot help but wonder whether this move is Bush looking for the best (face saving) way get troops back before the election. This isn't very consistent their overall direction.

 

[conjur]

REPOST

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=52&threadid=1309874&enterthread=y

 

[chrisms]

Originally posted by: conjur
REPOST

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=52&threadid=1309874&enterthread=y

This is Bremer saying this, not a state department official. What Bremer says is usually controlled by what the administration has told him to say, making him more trustworthy as to what the government will actually do.

 

[mastertech01]

Originally posted by: chrisms

Originally posted by: conjur
REPOST

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=52&threadid=1309874&enterthread=y

This is Bremer saying this, not a state department official. What Bremer says is usually controlled by what the administration has told him to say, making him more trustworthy as to what the government will actually do.

In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell (search), meeting with the foreign ministers of the G-8 countries, half of which are coalition members, reinforced the notion of a pullout upon request.

"Were this interim government to say to us, 'We really think we can handle this on our own, it would be better if you were to leave,' we would leave," Powell said

Isn't Powell State Department?

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: mastertech01

Originally posted by: chrisms

Originally posted by: conjur
REPOST

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=52&threadid=1309874&enterthread=y

This is Bremer saying this, not a state department official. What Bremer says is usually controlled by what the administration has told him to say, making him more trustworthy as to what the government will actually do.

In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell (search), meeting with the foreign ministers of the G-8 countries, half of which are coalition members, reinforced the notion of a pullout upon request.

"Were this interim government to say to us, 'We really think we can handle this on our own, it would be better if you were to leave,' we would leave," Powell said

Isn't Powell State Department?

Welllll, he is the nominal head of the State Department, but, few, if any Secretaries of State come out of the State Department or are ever career Foreign Service. They are political appointees of the President, part of his cabinet, and, as such, more properly considered to be soldiers of, and spokesmen for, the Presidency.

Secretaries of State come and go at the behest of whomever's President, while the State Department (save those Ambassadorships reserved as political plums) are, in the main, career civil servants who serve successive administrations, regardless of party.

Edit:As a bureaucracy that outlives any one administration, the State Department is known to the Executive Branch that tries to bend it to its will as the Foggy Bottom.

On the flip side, career civil servants who spend a lifetime learning and understanding a particular country or part of the world are often frustrated by what they see as politically appointed overseers who do not understand or listen to their informed professional input.