I figured as Britain has the 2nd largest military force there atm you might want to read this:

http://newsbox.msn.co.uk/article.aspx?as=adimarticle&f=uk_-_olgbtopnews&t=4023&id=2500356&d=20060307&do=http://newsbox.msn.co.uk&i=http://newsbox.msn.co.uk/mediaexportlive&ks=0&mc=5&ml=ma&lc=en&ae=windows-1252


UK troops plan Iraqi pullout by mid-2008 - general


LONDON (Reuters) - Britain plans to pull out nearly all its soldiers from Iraq by the summer of 2008, with the first withdrawals within weeks, a top military commander said in an interview published on Tuesday.

Lieutenant General Nick Houghton, Britain's most senior officer in Iraq, outlined a phased two-year withdrawal plan in an interview with the Daily Telegraph.

"There is a fine line between staying too long and leaving too soon," he was quoted as saying. "A military transition over two years has a reasonable chance of avoiding the pitfalls of overstaying our welcome but gives us the best opportunity of consolidating the Iraqi security forces.

Britain has given no firm timetable for the withdrawal of its 8,000 troops in Iraq, based in and around the southern port of Basra.

Houghton said the timeline would work only if Iraqi politicians elected in the December general election formed a national unity government and sectarian tensions did not worsen.

"It is reversible to an extent as there will be residual coalition forces present who can maintain a very low profile," he said. "There may be a need to go back in somewhere.

He said the proposals had been agreed with U.S. military chiefs, but were not set in stone.

Houghton repeated the long-held position in Washington and London that his forces would only leave once security could be handed over to Iraqi forces.

Last Sunday, the U.S. military in Iraq said media reports that the United States and Britain planned to pull out all their troops by the spring of 2007 were "completely false" and reiterated there was no timetable for withdrawal.

Two British newspapers reported in their Sunday editions that the pullout plan followed an acceptance by the two governments that the presence of foreign troops in Iraq was now a large obstacle to securing peace.

Prime Minister Tony Blair has been under pressure to give more details of a pullout. Many Britons opposed the deployment of troops to join the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Relations with Iraqi officials and people have soured. Houghton said a gradual withdrawal needed to begin soon to make it clear to the Iraqi people that British troops had no intention of staying forever.

British commanders have said the area they patrol has become more dangerous over the past eight to nine months as guerrillas develop deadlier forms of roadside bombs.

Last month, two British soldiers were killed in an attack on a patrol in Amara, 360 km (230 miles) southeast of Baghdad. It took the British death toll in Iraq to more than 100.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman in London said it was aware of Houghton's interview, but stressed no timetable had been finalised.

"The general was commenting on recent speculation on the timing of handover," he said. "The key point is that no decisions on timing or future force levels have been taken.

This was all over our evening news last night, it's all being denied now, both the US and Britain claim there is no timeline :dunno

There's no denial in the British media so far...

The US may be denying it because of the worry of more crap breaking out with them knowing there will be less military over there?

Or maybe cuz the US Gov't doesn't want their people to see that the UK is actually doing what American's have been wanting to US to do for a long time.

I didn't mean they were saying it IN Britain, I meant that they were saying that the entire plan for us and Britain to pull out was being denied. Here's an article from Reuters. Personally, I believe the report to be true, and I think that we are denying it for the very same reason we said we would never have a timetable in the first place. And Renee, not every American wants the US to pull out of Iraq.


US MILITARY IN IRAQ DENIES TROOP WITHDRAWAL PLAN

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Media reports that America and Britain plan to pull all their troops out of Iraq by the spring of 2007 are "completely false," the U.S. military in Iraq said on Sunday, reiterating there is no timetable for withdrawal.

Two British newspapers reported in their Sunday editions that the pull-out plan followed an acceptance by the two governments that the presence of foreign troops in Iraq was now a large obstacle to securing peace.

But a spokesman for the U.S. military in Iraq reiterated previous statements by U.S. and Iraqi officials that foreign troops will be gradually withdrawn from the Arab country once Iraqi security forces are capable of guaranteeing security.

"This news report on a withdrawal of forces within a set timeframe is completely false," Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson said of the stories in Britain's Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Mirror, which quoted unnamed senior defense ministry sources.

"As we've said over and over again, any withdrawal will be linked to the ability of the Iraqi security forces to maintain domestic order on behalf of a representative Iraqi government that respects the rights of all its citizens. This is an ongoing assessment and not linked to any timeframe," he said.

There are currently about 135,000 U.S. soldiers and Marines and about 8,500 British troops in Iraq. The full U.S.-led coalition numbers around 160,000. Italy, with the fourth largest contingent in Iraq, has said it plans to pull out this year.

U.S. and British troops have trained 230,000 Iraqis to take on roles in the police force and a slowly expanding Iraqi army, but both are currently incapable of securing the country on their own.

The U.S. military withdrew around 15,000 troops after Iraq held successful elections in December for its first full-term parliament since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Tensions in Iraq have soared over the past two weeks as fighting between the country's main Muslim sects has intensified following the February 22 bombing of Shi'ite shrine.

Militants are waging a two-year-old insurgency against the U.S.-backed Iraqi government, its security forces and foreign troops.

The recent sectarian violence has provoked fears that the country is on the brink of civil war, a scenario that could greatly complicate the role of foreign troops.

But the Sunday Telegraph, quoting a defense official, said that if civil war were to break out, it would likely cause the withdrawal plan to be put off.

very well said Becaa

I'm just saying that whilst the US are denying it, Britain are confirming it.

That doesn't surprise me. As I said previously, I believe the story to be true.