A Plan We Can Stick To
Feb 19, 2009
Council board member Col. Richard Klass, along with the chairman of our research wing, Lt. Gen. Robert Gard, released a report today that outlines how President Obama can responsibly execute his campaign commitment to remove U.S. combat forces from Iraq within 16 months.
Based on recent press reports, there is reason to suspect that there may be an effort underway, led by some military officials and non-governmental analysts, to delay President Obama’s 16-month timetable.
The report is available online here.
“This plan meets President Obama’s criteria of being as careful getting out as we were careless going in,” said Council board member retired Col. Richard Klass. “Redeployment of U.S. combat forces should be coupled with a diplomatic surge to help stabilize Iraq.”
The report proposes a U.S. redeployment schedule that would result in 100,000 total U.S. troops remaining in Iraq by the end of 2009; 35,000 to 65,000 support troops remaining in Iraq by July 2010, when the President’s 16-month timetable would end if it is initiated in April 2009; and fewer than 1,000 troops remaining by December 2011, when the U.S.-Iraqi security agreement (commonly referred to as the status of forces agreement or “SOFA”) mandates that all U.S. forces be out of Iraq.
"Our national security would be enhanced by implementing President Obama's 16-month timetable," said Gard. “President Obama’s plan to remove combat forces from Iraq is militarily workable and can be executed responsibly.”
From Outrage to the Oval Office: A Long March
Feb 17, 2009
On January 22, President Obama’s second day in office, Council for a Livable World board member Brig. Gen. John Johns, along with Lt. Gen. Robert Gard, the chairman of our sister organization the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, stood behind the President in the Oval Office when he signed executive orders related to the incarceration, interrogation, and treatment of detainees. Both Gen. Johns and Gen. Gard wrote about what it was like to be in the Oval Office, and how they came to be activists against the Bush administration's torture policies.
From Brig. Gen. Johns John (USA, ret.):
On January 22, 2009, I – along with Lt. Gen. Robert Gard, the Center’s chairman – was among 16 generals and admirals of the U.S. Armed Forces who were invited to attend a signing ceremony in the Oval Office, where President Obama signed three directives and a memo addressing policies on torture and the detention center at Guantanamo. Gen. Gard and I have been members of a group of retired flag officers who met at various times with presidential candidates to lobby for changing Bush policies, especially those related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, including torture. We had hoped that President Obama would take action early in his administration on this specific issue, but were elated and surprised that he did so on his second day in office. To take this action immediately reflects the importance the President places on this subject.
The group met in the Roosevelt Room for about 20-25 minutes with the President before the ceremony in the Oval Office. Vice President Biden and members of the legal staff joined the discussion. Both Obama and Biden expressed appreciation for the fruitful meetings they had had with the group during the campaign. President Obama had met for one hour in Des Moines, Iowa and Vice President Biden in New Hampshire. I was struck by the warm and gracious attitude of both the President and Vice President. Both showed a detailed knowledge of the policies on torture and interrogation techniques and fully understood the symbolic value of the changes that were being made.