Iraq deployments could drop to 9 months

Iraq deployments could drop to 9 months

By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jul 21, 2010 13:20:55 EDT

U.S. planners in Iraq are considering cutting troop unit deployments from 12 months to as low as nine months some time after the force falls to the 50,000 mark, the top U.S. commander there said Wednesday.

“I think nine months would be reasonable,” Army Gen. Ray Odierno said during a Pentagon news conference. But he cautioned that there is no certainty such a change will take place during the period between September and Dec. 31, 2011, by which time all major U.S. military units must be withdrawn.

“What we have to do is sustain a certain level through the end,” he told reporters at an earlier breakfast meeting. “We’re still working through that.”

Odierno said the plan now is to remain at the 50,000 level through next summer, at which time the force, following a command reassessment, would begin drawing down to zero over the following four months.
read more here
Iraq deployments could drop to 9 months