U.S. Renegs on Iraq Withdrawal Pledge

The top U.S. commander in Iraq has announced that the U.S. will not honor its new security agreement with Iraq. General Odierno didn't phrase it quite that way, of course -- but it amounted to that, when the general acknowledged that troops will remain in Iraqi cities well past the time set for their departure.

Iraq's parliament approved a new security deal with the U.S. last month, after a prolonged and heated debate. The deal was controversial mainly because it gives U.S. troops permission to remain in Iraq for three more years. The Iraqi parliament finally agreed to the pact because it did, at least, set out a pretty strict timetable for the U.S. withdrawal. Under the terms of the deal, U.S. troops are to completely withdraw from Iraqi cities by June of 2009. All U.S. forces are to leave the country by 2011.

Now Odierno is saying that he will not leave the cities. The general told the Associated Press this morning that U.S. troops will remain at so-called "local security stations" in "urban areas". Odierno says the troops will serve as "training and mentor teams" well beyond June of next year. In fact, he gives no new deadline for withdrawal from the cities.

We all know what "training and mentoring" means -- it's a typically slippery phrase which can be used to cover almost anything. The U.S. has been using this particular euphemism since at least Vietnam. The only true way to ensure that U.S. forces are not participating in combat in Iraq is to have them leave the country. Allowing them to remain, in whatever nominal capacity, creates a slippery slope to trouble.

Let's see what Iraqi lawmakers make of this new move.