WASHINGTON — The United States is on track to draw down its forces in Iraq to 50,000 by Aug. 31, but there are doubts President Barack Obama can fulfill his pledge to withdraw all U.S. troops by the end of 2011. As a presidential candidate, Obama campaigned to end the now seven-year-old war responsibly, and as president he has been explicit in his assurances to Americans that no troops will remain in Iraq come Jan. 1, 2012.
Easier said than done.
While violence has dipped sharply since the height of sectarian warfare from 2006-2007, Iraq remains fragile and its leaders have not resolved a number of politically explosive issues that could easily trigger renewed fighting.
The United States wants a stable, friendly Iraq, and analysts are skeptical Obama will do anything to jeopardize that.
Iraq's military chief, the former U.S. general who oversaw the training of Iraq's security forces and U.S. officials who negotiated the current U.S.-Iraqi military pact are among those who say a U.S. military presence will be needed beyond 2011.
Obama's defense secretary, Robert Gates, left the door open to that possibility in comments last week while emphasizing that Iraq's new government, still to be formed after an inconclusive election in March, would first have to ask.
