Think tank sees U.S. out of Iraq in a year

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- A Washington think tank said more U.S. troops in Iraq won't solve Iraq's own problems and called for U.S. troop withdrawals over a 12-month period.

The Center for American Progress is headed in Washington by John Podesta, a former chief of staff to former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who wrote on americanprogress.org that "the costs and risks of continuing to pursue the Bush administration’s strategy in Iraq outweigh any potential benefits that might be achieved."

The statement avoided using terms like "draw-down" or "pull-out," each time referring to the withdrawal as redeployment.

The group said Iraq wouldn't be abandoned entirely, and recommended as many as 10,000 troops remain "in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq for one year to prevent the outbreak of Turkish-Kurd violence and protect that region" from Iraq’s multiple civil and sectarian conflicts."

"Rather than continuing the president’s failed strategy in Iraq and criticizing those who question it, the Pentagon should immediately begin planning a strategic redeployment from Iraq," the report said. "The time for half-measures and experiments is over; it is now time for a logistically sound strategic redeployment."