Hagan: Leave Iraq withdrawal up to generals

Fort Bragg, N.C. — U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan said Thursday she still supports pulling troops out of Iraq but said she would leave the decision to the military officers in charge.

Hagan, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, toured Fort Bragg Thursday morning and participated in a video teleconference with Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, the post's commanding officer who currently is second in command of U.S. forces in Iraq.

Hagan said Austin told her troops are training Iraqi police and soldiers and that the number of improvised explosive devices troops have encountered has gone down "tremendously."

President Barack Obama has pushed for withdrawing most U.S. troops from Iraq within 16 months and redeploying forces to focus on the war in Afghanistan. This week, he announced plans to deploy another 17,000 troops, including Marines from Camp Lejeune, to Afghanistan.

Military leaders have asked for extending the time-line for an Iraq withdrawal to 23 months.

"I'm going to leave that to the generals in charge," Hagan said. "I think they're doing a very good job. I think (the withdrawal) also depends not only on what we do but also on what the Iraqis do and their timetable.

"I do see us withdrawing troops," she said.

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Latest Comments

hereandnow99--- If we let soldiers run the show, like we did with the cowboy who just left office, it's just war, war, war.

Well, if you let politicians run the theater from the warrooms in Washington DC, you will have another VIETNAM on your hands! That's what you liberals want---for us (the military) to fail and lose every time!

dogman1973
February 20, 2009 1:45 p.m.

Keep the change Kay. Anybody can ride the fence. " I will let you know" !!

Life-goes-on.
February 20, 2009 12:17 p.m.

I'm sure the military is the best at fighting stragedy. No doubt. But, politicians tell the military to go to war. Am I missing something here? My point is that politicians tell the military to "GO!", so they should also tell them "STOP!".

hereandnow99
February 20, 2009 9:48 a.m.

discowhale, thank you and your sons for your service to our country. Great post.

jgriffith3792
February 20, 2009 8:34 a.m.

hereandnow99, your dead wrong. Why would the military volunteer to put themselves in harm's way? That goes against human nature. What's the payoff for going to war?

I don't want a military dictatorship, but as a veteran, trust me, professional military people are far more thoughtful about consequences than politicians will EVER be. No one ever died on the floor of the Senate or House because of a bad idea or it's consequences. They're immune for the most part.

And BTW, both of my sons have been over there. 99.9% of the troops, airmen, sailors and grunts believe in and support this mission. You need to find someone who's been there and find out the truth about the Iraqi and Afghani people. Not the the overall war, or the MSM or politician's rhetoric, the oil, or the religions involved. The people.

At the heart of it, America goes to war to protect people. Our leaders aren't always truthful about this. But the warriors are.

They don't go to JUST kill or be killed.

discowhale
February 20, 2009 8:14 a.m.