Just nine days after President Barack Obama confirmed the new Afghanistan military policy, his plan to dramatically reduce troop levels in Iraq by August 2010 is on the agenda. The plan aims to withdraw over half of the troops from the country over the next 18 months; the present commitment of 142,000 troops will be reduced to around 50,000, President Obama insisted.

Despite skepticism from some military leaders about the detrimental effect such a rapid withdrawal could have on recent security gains in Iraq, Marine Major General John Kelly has given the projection the provisional go-ahead. Having recently toured for 13 months as the leading US commander in Anbar province, Kelly assessed the situation first-hand before concluding that the US goal in Iraq to a satisfactory level has all but been achieved.

“If the objective is [to reduce] violence [to a level] manageable by the Iraqi police and the Iraqi army, we’re all but there throughout most of the country.”

Having campaigned vehemently on a promise to reduce troops in Iraq within 16 months of his presidency, the final decision upon 18 takes into account the risks of leaving too soon; the 50,000 troops set to remain stations in Iraq will play an advisory role to the Iraqi forces, President Obama told Congress.

In spite of the dramatic reduction, there are concerns that 50,000 is too large a force for the purposes they are intended; Mr. Obama assured that should the situation change, the strategy would be re-evaluated.

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