Army Chief Says US Ready To Be In Iraq 10 Years

In this Jan. 15, 2007, file photo, Gen. George Casey, then the U.S. commander in Iraq, who is currently Army chief of staff, answers a question in Baghdad. On May 26, 2009, during a invitation-only briefing to a dozen journalists and policy analysts from Washington based think-tanks, Casey said the Pentagon is prepared to leave fighting forces in Iraq for as long as a decade despite an agreement between the United States and Iraq that would bring all American troops home by 2012. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, Pool )

From Yahoo News/AP:

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon is prepared to leave fighting forces in Iraq for as long as a decade despite an agreement between the United States and Iraq that would bring all American troops home by 2012, the top U.S. Army officer said Tuesday.

Gen. George Casey, the Army chief of staff, said the world remains dangerous and unpredictable, and the Pentagon must plan for extended U.S. combat and stability operations in two wars. "Global trends are pushing in the wrong direction," Casey said. "They fundamentally will change how the Army works."

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My Comment: President Obama has made it very clear that U.S. combat forces will be out next year. So ..... why is General George Casey making the public announcement that the U.S. is prepared to leave "fighting forces" for the next 10 years.

Is there a change in policy? Should we be surprised?

As I had mentioned in this blog last week, the quick removal of U.S. forces from Iraq never made any sense. It would only embolden the insurgents and the extremists .... and it would make the security situation deteriorate more quickly than what has been happening for the past three months.

I personally believe that this is the right move, but the inconsistencies that are now coming out from the White House and the Pentagon does not make this analyst confident that they know what they are doing.