Powell: Next president must reduce Iraq force

[unhappycamper]

Powell: Next president must reduce Iraq force
The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Apr 11, 2008 6:24:04 EDT

WASHINGTON — Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday that President Bush’s successor will have to come to grips with the reality that the U.S. cannot continue to keep such large numbers of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Without taking sides in the race for the White House, Powell said, “Whichever one of them becomes president on Jan. 1, 2009, they will face a military force that cannot continue to sustain 140,000 people deployed in Iraq and the 20 -odd or 25,000 people we have deployed in Afghanistan and our other deployments.”

Powell’s comments in an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America” seemed to undercut Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting John McCain’s position that the U.S. should stay the course in Iraq. But Powell also said the next president will face limitations on bringing troops home, as Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton — rivals for the Democratic nomination — have promised to do.

“They will have to continue to draw down at some pace,” he said. “None of them are going to have the flexibility of just saying we’re out of here, turn off the switch, turn off the lights, we’re leaving. They will have a situation before them.”

Powell, a retired Army general and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, argued publicly for the invasion of Iraq early in Bush’s presidency. He said Thursday that he considers each of the presidential candidates a friend.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/04/ap_powell_041008/

[SteinbachMB]

1. This guy's

a real genius.

[Saturday]

2. Why should anyone listen to you Colin Powell, You helped get us into this war. nt

[Sanity Claws]

3. He should tell * that -- why wait until next year?

How the hell does he get off telling the next Prez what to do when he won't do that to the current pResident, the one he used to work for?