US Ambassador Sees No Sudden Pullout From Iraq

Iraqi officials have frequently said they do not think Obama`s plans would require major changes to the timetable of withdrawals.

Iraq's military is "prepared for the worst" if President Barack Obama orders a faster withdrawal of U.S. troops, its defence minister said on Thursday, but the outgoing U.S. ambassador said a sudden pullout was unlikely.

Obama -- who opposed the war in Iraq and campaigned on a pledge to withdraw U.S. combat troops by mid-2010 -- met military chiefs on Wednesday, his first day in office, and told them to plan for a "responsible military drawdown" from Iraq.

The incoming administration has not yet spelled out whether that would dramatically speed up a withdrawal that was already under way, negotiated by former President George W. Bush.

In a security pact which took effect on New Year's Day, the former U.S. administration committed itself to pulling combat troops out of Iraq's towns by mid-2009 and withdrawing entirely from the country by the end of 2011.

"There will be a withdrawal. That's what the agreement says ... The president on his side and the Iraqi government on their side will determine what the pace should be," ambassador Ryan Crocker, who is due to retire in 2-3 weeks, told a round table of journalists in Baghdad.

"If it were to be a precipitous withdrawal that can be very dangerous. But it's clear that's not the direction in which this is training," he said.

Iraqi officials have frequently said they do not think Obama's plans would require major changes to the timetable of withdrawals they negotiated with the Bush administration.

Asked if Iraq was ready in case of a quicker U.S. exit, Abdel Qader Jassim told a news conference: "We cannot leave our country, whether (U.S.) troops withdraw from it or not. We are here, and we have our plans prepared for the worst."

He said Iraq's army was 90 percent ready to conduct combat missions on its own but the military would need until at least mid-2010 to set up a self-sufficient air force.

Obama has not given a complete definition of the "combat troops" he intends to withdraw by mid-2010, leaving some leeway over the size of a force that could remain in Iraq from that point until Bush's end-2011 deadline for total withdrawal.

Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Abdul-Kareem Khalaf said a speedier U.S. pullout was unlikely, but Iraq would be ready if necessary.

"There are prepared plans for such possibilities. These plans are in hand and ready to execute. But I don't think this will happen because the pact is moving at a quick pace according to the established timetables."