On Good Morning America, ABC’s Martha Raddatz reported on the feasibility of Barack Obama’s 16-month withdrawal plan. Among the troops and commanders she interviewed in Iraq, there’s universal agreement that withdrawing in 16 months is dangerous and unworkable.
RADDATZ: Do you think it’s dangerous to pull out if it’s not conditions based? MAJ GEN HAMMOND: I think it’s very dangerous…. RADDATZ: It is that phrase “sustainable security” that we heard again and again in Iraq from officers on the streets of Baghdad. OFFICER: That would be conditions based. OFFICER 2: We’re thinking in terms of accomplishing the mission. OFFICER 3: You can’t put a timetable on it. RADDATZ: To senior officers. LT GEN LLOYD AUSTIN: What I’m focused on right now is helping the Iraqi people, the Iraqi government achieve sustainable security.
Raddatz ended her report by asking, “So could the military manage the pace that Barack Obama has suggested? Several commanders we talked to off camera said, no way.” Hat Tip: The McCain Report
