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Obama considering 2 Iraq withdrawal plans

AP, Washington
The White House is considering at least two troop withdrawal options as it weighs a new Iraq strategy one that would preserve President Barack Obama's campaign pledge to get all combat brigades out within 16 months and a second that would stretch it to 23 months, two officials said Friday.
A third, in-between option of 19 months is also being weighed, according to the officials, neither of whom would discuss the sensitive topic without being granted anonymity. One of the officials said the main focus appears to be on the 16-month and 23-month options; 23 months would run to theendof2010.
Under either timeline, the US would hope to leave behind a number of brigades that would be redesigned and reconfigured as multipurpose units to provide training and advising for Iraqi security forces, one official said. These brigades would be considered noncombat outfits and their presence would have to be agreed in advance by the Iraqi
government, which under a deal signed late last year insisted that all US forces not just combat brigades be out of Iraq by the end of 2011.
Obama has said his Iraq policy will include leaving a residual US military force of unspecified composition and size in Iraq and in the region to conduct counter-terrorism missions against al-Qaeda in Iraq and to protect American diplomatic and civilian personnel. He has said they will not build permanent bases in Iraq but will continue training and supporting Iraqi security forces "as long as Iraqi leaders move toward political reconciliation and away from sectarianism."
The concept of the stay-behind training and advising brigades has been well developed, the official said, although the details such as their size and makeup are in an early stage of being sorted out.
At the White House's request, top military officials recently offered an assessment of the risks associated with the 16-, 19- and 23-month withdrawal timetables,
without saying which is preferred. Obama's top two defence advisers, Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, have not yet provided a formal recommendation to the president on a timetable, an official said.
It is possible that Obama will ask for similar assessments of other withdrawal timetables before deciding on a way ahead.
A senior administration official said Friday, without commenting on the timetables under consideration, that the White House and senior military commanders "are coming to a meeting of the minds" on troop withdrawals and on the need for a diplomatic and political strategy to end US involvement in the war and to ease the strain on troops and their families.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly, said it likely would be a matter of "weeks, not months" before Obama is ready to announce his decisions on an Iraq strategy.