Panel Calls for U.S. Troops to Reduce 'Footprint' in Iraq
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An independent commission that studied the readiness of the Iraqi security forces called today for a "strategic shift" in Iraq, with U.S. forces reducing their massive "footprint" in the country and moving to what it called an "overwatch" posture focused on the borders with Iran and Syria.
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WASHINGTON -- Buoyed by a higher turnout and less violence than expected in Sunday's Iraqi election, Pentagon authorities have decided to start reducing the level of US forces in Iraq next month by about 15,000 troops, down to about 135,000, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said yesterday.
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The top U.S. commander in the Gulf  region sees the role of U.S. troops in Iraq possibly shifting  as early as next year to focus less on combat and more on  training Iraqi security forces, The Washington Post reported on  Tuesday.
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Following an intense assessment of U.S. policies in the war in Iraq, the Iraq Study Group will recommend that a "gradual but meaningful" reduction of U.S. troops begin "relatively early in the New Year," a source familiar with the group's deliberations tells CNN. The report will be released next week.
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An influential UN-appointed panel challenged the Bush administration&#39;s right to use military force against an enemy that does not pose an imminent military threat.
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President George W. Bush on Thursday ordered gradual troop reductions in Iraq but defied calls for a dramatic change of course, telling war-weary Americans the U.S. military role there will stretch beyond his presidency.
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The U.S. troop surge in Iraq has thrown al Qaeda off balance and led to a reduction in sectarian violence and bombings, the U.S. commander in Iraq was quoted on Friday by an Australian newspaper as saying.
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The independent panel studying U.S. policy in Iraq has unanimously agreed to a report that will call for a gradual pullback of American combat troops in Iraq but stops short of setting a firm timetable for withdrawal, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.
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By July, the number of U.S. troops in Iraq should be down to about 130,000, according to the U.S. commander in Baghdad, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus -- about the same number as before President Bush sent additional combat forces there last spring.
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Gen. David Petraeus said Monday he has recommended to President Bush that the drawdown of U.S. forces from Iraq begin this month with the departure of a California-based Marine unit.
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Gen. David H. Petraeusâs recommendations will likely lead to an earlier-than-expected start to troop reductions in Iraq, while deferring decisions on a wider withdrawal.
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The Iraq Study Group calls for a shift in the role of U.S. troops in Iraq to support from combat operations, but stops short of recommending a timetable for withdrawal, CNN reported late on Tuesday.
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With the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq serving as a backdrop, a high-level international panel called for sweeping changes Tuesday of the United Nations, including a recommendation that the Security Council must in the future authorize any pre-emptive or preventive global military action.
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The Iraq Study Group will recommend the U.S. military shift away from combat and toward more of a support role in Iraq over the next year or so, a source familiar with the panel's recommendations said.
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Tours of duty for U.S. soldiers in Iraq may be cut from 15 months to 12 if current improvements in security hold up, the U.S. commander in Iraq said Tuesday.
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The co-chairmen of the Iraq Study Group called on Congress to endorse the groupÂs bipartisan call for a sharp change in course in the Iraq war.
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WASHINGTON -- The United States may be able to reduce its combat forces in Iraq by next spring if Iraq's own security forces continue to grow and improve, a senior American commander said yesterday.