BAGHDAD, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Top advisers to the U.S. commander in Iraq have reportedly concluded the United States has six months to win the Iraq war before political support collapses.
The advisers -- described by the Guardian as an elite team of officers known as the "Baghdad brain trust" -- have warned Gen. David Petraeus that if the United States has not won the war by Labor Day, it faces a Vietnam-style collapse in political and public support and the military could be forced into a hasty retreat, the newspaper said.
The team of officers is responsible for implementing the new strategy in Iraq announced by President George W. Bush Jan. 10 -- the plan that included the deployment of an additional 21,500 U.S. troops to Iraq.
A former senior administration official familiar with the team's work told the Guardian the advisers "know they are operating under a clock."
"They know they are going to hear a lot more talk in Washington about 'Plan B' by the autumn -- meaning withdrawal," the former official said. "They know the next six-month period is their opportunity. And they say it's getting harder every day."
