As Deadline Nears, US Still Unsure How Many Troops Will Remain in Iraqi Cities

Brig. Gen. Walker: "It Remains to Be Seen"

by Jason Ditz, May 31, 2009

With the beginning of at hand June, the US only has 30 days left to fulfill the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) requirement for all US forces to be out of Iraq’s cities. Despite so little time remaining, Brigadier General Keith Walker says that the military still isn’t sure how many troops will remain in which cities.

“It remains to be seen what the numbers will be,” Brig. Gen. Walker told reporters today. One thing he did was reject the notion that the military would simply rename all its combat units as trainers to get around the requirement.

And of course that isn’t all their doing. They’re also redefining the borders of Iraq’s cities to skirt the requirement that way. Southern Baghdad is no longer officially part of Baghdad, allowing troops to remain there without worrying about the SOFA.

Officials have been non-committal about the question of leaving cities as the deal requires, particularly given the rising violence across Iraq in the past two months. It seems that ambiguity will continue as long as possible.

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