Pentagon Predicts Increase in Iraq Attacks

Speaking to the Associated Press today, Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Colin Kahl said it is expected that insurgent attacks within Iraq will rise as the US begins its military pullout. He said that the military would continue to monitor the increased violence to determine if they want to push back the already nebulous deadlines set by President Barack Obama.

The Obama Administration intends to withdraw somewhat more than half of the troops from Iraq by the end of August, 2010, while leaving as many as 50,000 troops in the nation indefinitely. During the presidential campaign Obama touted a plan to remove all troops from Iraq within 16 months, but abandoned it just days after his inauguration despite repeated assertions that the war is going according to plans.

Violence in Iraq has already been increasing dramatically in recent days, though US commander General Ray Odierno insists that none of the attacks mark a significant opposition to the continued US presence. Early deadlines which were figured into the Obama strategy are already being dismissed, and it seems that even without the rising violence the US intends to keep a significant military presence in Iraq for the forseeable future.