The White House today again rejected the possibility of laying out a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, saying such a move would aid the enemy there. “To remove troops prematurely would not only place Iraqis at risk, it would place our own forces at risk,” Snow said. “We want to make sure we keep force on the ground only as long as necessary.” Snow repeated the Bush administration strategic tag line—Iraqis “stand up, we stand down”—and said that the role of U.S forces in Iraq will change only when “Iraqis become more capable to assume the lead combat roles and take over primary combat responsibilities.”
