The inability of Iraq's political leaders to form a new government will not delay US plans to reduce its military presence to 50,000 soldiers by the end of August, the top US commander in the country said Wednesday, dpa reported.
General Ray Odierno told reporters at the Pentagon he does not intend to ask the White House to extend the August 31 deadline for ending combat operations and transitioning to a counter-terrorism and training role. He said the 50,00 troops will still provide a strong capability and it is important to send a signal to the Iraqi people that the United States lives up to its commitments.
"It's counterproductive for us to be doing combat operations in Iraq," Odierno said. "I think it's time for them to do those."
The American military contingency is now at 70,000 soldiers and is on schedule to get to the 50,000 mark, and for the withdrawal of all US forces by the end of 2011, Odierno said.
Iraq has been in a political deadlock since March elections in what Odierno described as "one of the closest elections we have ever seen in the Middle East." The narrow outcome left lawmakers in a dispute over who had the right to form a new government.
Former prime minister Iyad Allawi's Iraqiya List won 91 seats in the 325-member parliament, while incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki's coalition, State of Law, won 89 seats. The National Iraqi Alliance came in third with 70 seats.
Allawi and al-Maliki both claim the right to form a new government, Allawi because his party won the most seats. Al-Maliki insists that his broader allegiance with other parties gives him 159 seats, just short of a majority.
Odierno said he was hopeful the Iraqis can reach a political agreement by August, but said he added that he would grow increasingly concerned if a settlement was not reached by October.
"The government is going to be formed. They will get there," he said. "Whether it happens next week or two months from now, I don't know yet."
President Barack Obama has introduced the plan to wind down the US role in Iraq and shift military focus to Afghanistan, where the number of US troops is expected to exceed 100,000 by the end of summer.
The pullout from Iraq has been aided by predecessor George W Bush's massive troop surge that helped rein in widespread violence that brought Iraq to the brink of civil war in 2007. The number of violent monthly attacks in Iraq today has fallen to the lowest levels since the military started keeping records, and are down by 50 per cent for the first half of 2010 compared to 2009, Odierno said.
"Clearly there's still some violence, and we still need to make more progress in Iraq," Odierno said.