U.S. forces in northern Iraq will be among last units to come out in 2011 – Odierno

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The U.S. is on track to drawdown its force level in Iraq to 50,000 by August 31, as scheduled, but will maintain that robust level through summer 2011, Gen. Ray Odierno, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, said. But for the next 17 months, as U.S. forces move toward withdrawing completely by December 31, 2011, per an agreement with the Iraqi government, Odierno has asked his staff to look into shortening remaining deployment times of American units in Iraq to nine months. The Baghdad staff will work with the Joint Staff and the Army, he said, to see if the change would be “a better fit” for the timetable. “If we can do it, we’ll do it,” he said. Odierno also said that U.S. units deployed to Kirkuk would probably be among the last units to come out, given the importance of stability in the north. SH (P) 2