Associated Press
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
WASHINGTON D.C. — After months of speculation the question to whether or not the United States Military would remain an armed presence in the country of Iraq has finally been decided. Secretary of Defense Gerard Rutland has outlined the United States Military's plans for the continued occupation of Iraq through 2012. Amidst a flurry of criticisms for the handling of both the Iraq and Afghanistan military operations, the President Nathan Petrelli has also been highly scrutinized for the mobilization of United States Armed Forces for the liberation of the island nation of Madagascar in the winter of 2009.
According to Secretary Rutland, the US military will retain its 15,000 active service members in Iraq through to the end of 2012 when the operation will likely be given another review following the 2012 Presidential elections. Secretary Rutland outlined the two year plan for the reinforcement of US military bases in Iraq after the 2007 Mazdak rebellion in Baghdad which left 250 American servicemen dead and hundreds more injured.
President Petrelli has stated that assisting the burgeoning Iraqi government in rooting out the insurgent Mazdak terrorist organization will be crucial to establishing a sense of stability in the Middle East.
Following this declaration of intent in Iraq, Secretary Rutland informed the gathering at the press conference that a decision had been made in light of the choice to bolster operations in Iraq to begin a one year plan to withdraw from the United States' operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Unfavorable public opinion towards the engagement hunting the Taliban presence has likely contributed to this decision.
Secretary Rutland confirmed that troops removed from Afghanistan would be divided between soldiers allowed to return home from their extended tours of duty as well as troops moved between the resurgence of activity in Iraq and the restructuring operations in Madagascar.
This decision comes just weeks following the string of terrorist bombings in New York City and the instatement of the full national registry of the Evolved under the Linderman Act.