Iraq Withdrawal to be Conditions-Based

The United States will not withdraw forces from Iraq until Iraqi security forces meet conditions to be established by a joint commission, said Multinational Force Iraq spokesman Brig. Gen. Donald Alston on July 28. The conditions will cover the combat capability of the Iraqi forces as well as the ability of the Iraqi government’s ministries to sustain the forces and support them logistically, General Alston said. The progress of Iraqi forces, however, must be measured more than quantitatively, he said. “Combat capability is not just a function of numbers,” he said. “It has a subjective quality in terms of the combat seasoning that is going on with Iraqi security forces, and that’s, I think, more of an art — a subjective assessment — that the leaders are inputting to their assessments.”