US troops 'need Xmas break'

2005-10-27 13:10

Washington - Senator John Kerry says President George W Bush should bring home 20 000 troops from Iraq for the Christmas holidays if the December parliamentary elections there are successful.

Defeated by Bush last year and a potential candidate for the democratic presidential nomination in 2008, Kerry called for a "reasonable time frame" for pulling back troops rather than a full-scale withdrawal advocated by some democrats. He said it could be completed in 12 to 15 months.

Kerry said: "It will be hard for this administration, but it is essential to acknowledge that the insurgency will not be defeated unless our troop levels are drawn down ... starting immediately after successful elections in December."

Kerry said the presence of 159 000 United States troops in Iraq was deterring peace efforts.

Responsible benchmarks

He said: "To undermine the insurgency, we must instead simultaneously pursue both a political settlement and the withdrawal of American combat forces linked to specific, responsible benchmarks.

"At the first benchmark, the completion of December elections, we can start the process of reducing our forces by 20 000 troops for the course of the holidays."

Kerry, who voted to authorise the use of force in Iraq, had been a strong critic of Bush's handling of the war, accusing the president of misleading the public into going to war.

The Republican National Committee argued that Kerry's plan to pull back troops would make American forces remaining in Iraq more vulnerable to insurgents.

The committee's spokesperson Tracey Schmitt said: "John Kerry is either willing to endanger American forces on the ground or he really believes that ignoring the presence of terrorists is the best policy for the safety of America."

- AP