New Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno warned on Thursday that leaving too many U.S. troops in Iraq after this year would be “counterproductive.”
Odierno’s comments follow several news reports this week saying the White House and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta were considering leaving 3,000 to 5,000 troops in Iraq past Dec. 31, well below the force size of 10,000 or more troops that most believed the Pentagon would leave, if Iraqi leaders agreed.
The general, the former commander of the Iraq War, said he hesitated to pitch an exact troop number, leaving that decision for current Iraq War commander Gen. Lloyd Austin and Central Command’s Gen. James Mattis.
