U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Rick Nash, commanding general of Multinational Division South, Brig. Gen. Gerald Lang, the division deputy commanding general for support, Command Sgt. Maj. Doug Julin, the division senior enlisted leader, visit Babylon, Iraq, July 18, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Debralee P. Crankshaw U.S. Defense Chief Visits Iraq -- New York Times
TALIL AIRBASE, Iraq — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates arrived here this morning to meet with American military commanders and Iraqi political leaders in anticipation of a major drawdown of United States troops set to start early next year.
Mr. Gates, who is to see Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq as well as Gen. Ray Odierno, the top American commander here, is on his first trip to Iraq this year.
Defense officials said that a main purpose of Mr. Gates’s visit was to begin preparations with the Iraqis for the withdrawal of some 80,000 American troops, who are set to leave Iraq between March and August 2010. There are currently about 130,000 American troops in Iraq. Defense officials anticipate leaving behind a “residual force” of some 50,000 troops by the end of next summer. Under an agreement with the Iraqis, all United States troops are to be out of Iraq by 2011.
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