3,000 U.S. Troops To Remain In Iraq Past Year-End -- News Roundup

A Marine watches through a window while other Marines from the Hawaii-based Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, search a house in Barwana, Iraq, for weapons caches and explosives during a patrol through the city June 16, 2006. (UPI Photo/Sgt. Roe F. Seigle/US MARINE CORPS)

Plan Would Keep Small Force In Iraq Past Deadline -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta is supporting a plan that would keep 3,000 to 4,000 American troops in Iraq after a deadline for their withdrawal at year’s end, but only to continue training security forces there, a senior military official said on Tuesday.

The recommendation would break a longstanding pledge by President Obama to withdraw all American forces from Iraq by the deadline. But it would still involve significantly fewer forces than proposals presented at the Pentagon in recent weeks by the senior American commander in Iraq, Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, to keep as many as 14,000 to 18,000 troops there.

The proposal for a smaller force — if approved by the White House and the Iraqi government, which is not yet certain — reflected the shifting political realities in both countries.

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More News On The American Withdrawal From Iraq

Sources: Obama Administration to Drop Troop Levels in Iraq to 3,000 -- FOX News
NBC: US troop strength in Iraq 'headed' to 3,000 -- MSNBC/AP
U.S. may leave 3,000 troops in Iraq past year-end, officials say -- L.A. Times
Plan would keep 3,000 U.S. troops in Iraq -- UPI
Pentagon says no decision yet on Iraq troop levels -- AFP
US Defense Chief Says No Decision on Future in Iraq -- Voice of America
Obama team may keep some troops in Iraq -- USA Today
Up to 4K U.S. troops to stay in Iraq? -- Politico
Iraq troop levels question lingers -- CBS/AP
Pentagon narrowing options for Iraq troops -- AP
Iraq drawdown to 3,000 troops would be ‘a mistake,’ Feinstein says -- Washington Post
The Bureaucratic Infighting over Withdrawing Troops from Iraq -- John Hudson, The Atlantic
Mercenary Army (cont.) -- Time
US Casualties in Iraq Drop, But Iraqis Concerned About Withdrawal -- Voice of America
Kurd president calls for US forces to stay in Iraq -- Stars and Stripes/AP
Yes, the Iraq drawdown is really happening -- Dan Murphy, Christian Science Monitor
U.S. Needs More Troops in Iraq -- Max Boot, Commentary