NBC: US troop strength in Iraq 'headed' to 3,000

WASHINGTON — While no final decision has been made to leave 3,000 American troops in Iraq past the Dec. 31 deadline, "it's headed in that direction," administration officials told NBC News on Tuesday.

The 3,000 would be part of a "training mission" with the Iraqi military, and that considerably small number would be "more than adequate" for the task, the officials said.

About 46,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq now. At the beginning of August, Iraqi leaders announced that they would begin negotiations with the U.S. to keep a residual force in Iraq. Under a 2008 security agreement between Washington and Baghdad, all U.S. troops are slated to leave by Dec. 31.

Continued instability and fear of growing Iranian influence in Iraq prompted some Iraqi and U.S. officials to reconsider the deadline.

The 3,000 figure reflects "reality" in Iraq and in the United States, the administration officials told NBC News, denying reports of any deep divisions among the White House, Pentagon and State Department.

But The New York Times said the number would be far less than that recommended by American commanders in Iraq. It also noted that President Barack Obama had long pledged to withdraw all U.S. forces by the deadline, and leaving a few thousand troops in Iraq would break that promise.

Considering the U.S. political climate, it would be difficult for Obama to leave large numbers of U.S. military forces there when the U.S.-Iraq agreement on troop presence expires, one official said. At the same time Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is under "tremendous pressure himself" to send the American forces packing, the official said.

The officials told NBC News that the discussions about the level of American forces in Iraq after this year started with a "broad range" and "somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000" when it was unclear what exactly their mission would be. But once negotiations with the Iraqis got under way and the role was narrowed to a "training mission," it was determined that 3,000 would be sufficient, they said.

On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was quoted by Fox News as saying "no decision has been made" on the final number of troops to stay in Iraq.

"That obviously will be the subject of negotiations with the Iraqis and as a result of those negotiations. As I said no decision has been made of what the number will be," he said.

Fox News said Panetta had already signed off on the 3,000 figure and that senior commanders disagreed.

Muslim travelers still saddled with 9/11 baggage GOP debate is when great expectations meet reality The face of a city: NYC taxi drivers recall 9/11 Obama jobs plan may not be enough Future of Technology: Making computers disappear Obama hits all-time low, NBC News/WSJ poll finds Miscarriage risk doubles with use of NSAIDs Year after 'end' of Iraq combat, peril for Americans

"We can't secure everybody with only 3,000 on the ground nor can we do what we need to with the Iraqis," Fox News quoted one source as saying.

White House press secretary Jay Carney at his press briefing Tuesday afternoon flatly denied the Fox News report, NBC News reported.

"We are operating under a status of forces agreement with the Iraqi government that was signed by the previous administration to draw down our forces," Carney said. We are in negotiations, consultations with the Iraqi government about what our relationship with Iraq will look like going forward.

"We want a normal, productive, healthy relationship with Iraq," he said. "If the Iraqi government makes a request of us, we will certainly consider it."

But for the time being, Carney added, the two countries are continuing to operate "under existing agreements."

Asked about budgetary restraints weighing on troop-strength decisions, Carney acknowledged that "we live in a world ... where resources aren't finite," Politico reported.

Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., issued a statement Tuesday that they were "deeply troubled" about the drawdown level.

"This is dramatically lower than what our military leaders have consistently told us over the course of repeated visits to Iraq that they require, and that is needed to support Iraq in safeguarding the hard-won gains that our two nations have achieved at such great cost," they said in the statement obtained by NBC News.

"In particular, we are very concerned by the prospect that a follow-on force might lack the capabilities and authorities necessary to help Iraqis ensure stability across the disputed territories in northern Iraq, which we consider an essential mission," the three said.

NBC News' Jim Miklaszewski contributed to this report.

View the original article here

Read More

Katia nears hurricane strength

MIAMI — Tropical Storm Katia was expected to strengthen into a hurricane over the open Atlantic on Wednesday night, while another mass of thunderstorms in the western Caribbean has a 30 percent chance of becoming a tropical storm and could move into the Gulf of Mexico, forecasters said.

In NJ town, entire lives piled high on sidewalks Boehner rebuffs Obama; suggests new day Hospital garb harbors nasty bacteria, study says Town honors the fallen one last time Investors shouldn't put the Dramamine down Volunteers give back to Mount Rainier park Toyota, Honda facing tough new challenges

At 5 p.m. ET, Katia had sustained winds of 70 miles per hour and would become the second hurricane of the June-through-November Atlantic hurricane season if those winds reach 74 mph.

Forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami expected that to happen Wednesday night.

Katia was forecast to then become a major hurricane with winds over 111 mph on Sunday, but it was still too early to tell whether it would threaten land.

The National Hurricane Center cautioned the public — still recovering along parts of the East Coast from Irene — not to stress over the storm yet, even though it's over warm waters and in a low wind shear environment, two ingredients that could propel it to become a major hurricane.

"It's got a lot of ocean to go. There's no way at this point to say if it will make any impacts, let alone when it might make them," said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and spokesman at the National Hurricane Center. "There's a reason we don't do forecasts more than five days in advance — the information just isn't good. The error beyond that just isn't acceptable."

Some models showed Katia veering away from the East Coast. But Feltgen said it's simply too soon for coastal residents to tell.

"Folks along the East Coast shouldn't be getting a lot of heartburn over this — not yet," he said.  

At 5 p.m. ET, Katia was about 1,285 miles east of the Leeward Islands. It was moving rapidly west-northwest at 20 mph, and was forecast to turn northwest in a couple of days on a course that would keep it away from the Caribbean islands.

Hurricane Irene rampaged up the U.S. East Coast over the weekend and authorities on the U.S. Atlantic seaboard are keeping an eye on Katia to see which path it takes.

Long-range computer models, which can be off by hundreds of miles, show Katia nearing the mid-Atlantic island of Bermuda in about a week. Several models turned it north away from the U.S. East Coast.

The Atlantic hurricane season typically brings 11 or 12 named storms. Katia is already the 11th, and with half of the season still ahead it is shaping up to be the unusually busy year that was predicted.

In the Gulf of Mexico, energy companies were keeping watch on a mass of thunderstorms in the northwest Caribbean Sea.

The National Hurricane Center said there was a 30 percent chance of it developing into a tropical storm in the next two days. Earlier Wednesday, the chances were just 10 percent.

BP on Wednesday became the first major oil producer to say it was already evacuating some workers from offshore platforms in the Gulf because of the weather system, which would be dubbed Lee if it becomes a named storm.

Royal Dutch Shell said later it too was preparing to evacuate some workers, while other companies said they were monitoring the system closely.

Reuters contributed to this report.

View the original article here

Read More