THE US military command in Baghdad has prepared a classified plan outlining a significant American role in Iraq until at least 2009, despite the growing chorus in Washington for a withdrawal.
The detailed plan represents the co-ordinated strategy of the top American commander and the US ambassador to Iraq and calls for restoring security in local areas, including Baghdad, by the northern summer of next year, reports said yesterday.
"Sustainable security" is to be established on a nationwide basis by the northern summer of 2009, American officials familiar with the document were quoted as saying by The New York Times.
The document, known as the Joint Campaign Plan, expands on the new strategy US President George W.Bush signalled in January when he sent five additional combat brigades and other units to Iraq, the report said.
The troop surge marked a shift from the previous strategy, which emphasised transferring to Iraqis the responsibility for safeguarding their security.
The new approach emphasises protecting the Iraqi population in Baghdad, on the theory that improved security would provide Iraq's leaders with breathing space to try political reconciliation, the report said.
The latest plan does not explicitly address troop levels or withdrawal schedules but it anticipates a decline in US forces as the surge in troops runs its course this year or early next year, the paper said.
But it assumes continued US involvement to train soldiers, act as partners with Iraqi forces and fight terrorist groups in Iraq, US officials said.
The plan, developed by General David Petraeus and US ambassador Ryan Crocker, has been briefed to US Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral William J.Fallon, head of Central Command. The plan envisions two phases -- the "near-term" goal was to achieve "localised security" in Baghdad and other areas no later than June next year, the report said.
The "intermediate" goal was to stitch together such local arrangements to establish a broader sense of security on a nationwide basis no later than June 2009.
News of the plan came as a New York Times/CBS News poll found that Americans' support for the initial invasion of Iraq has risen as the White House has continued to ask the public to reserve judgment about the war until later this year.
Support for the invasion had been at an all-time low in May, when only 35per cent of Americans said the invasion of Iraq was right and 61per cent said the US should have stayed out.
The number of Americans who say the war is going "very badly" has fallen from 45per cent earlier this month to 35per cent, and of those who say it is going well, 29per cent now describe it as "somewhat well" compared with 23per cent just last week.
The US and Iran yesterday launched a second round of face-to-face talks in Baghdad to stem violence in Iraq. The talks were held at the office of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
As with a similar meeting held on May 28, officials said the talks would focus only on the security situation in Iraq, leaving aside a roster of other disputes between the US and the Islamic republic.
The US broke off relations with Iran in 1980, when Islamic revolutionaries seized the US embassy in Tehran and held its diplomats hostage for 444 days.
Source : www.theaustralian.news.com.au
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