Lugar: Withdrawn Iraq troops could go to Afghanistan
by Klaus Marre, The Hill, July 13, 2008

With the White House discussing the possibility of withdrawing additional troops from Iraq, Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) said Sunday those forces might need to be shifted to Afghanistan where he sees the need for military personnel as “intense.”

“The battles on the border with Pakistan, with the al Qaeda forces assisted by the Taliban are a source of more killing of American troops right now than anything occurring in Iraq,” Lugar said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

Discussions over further force reductions have increased this week, fueled by reports that President Bush is considering speeding up the troop withdrawal in the fall. In addition, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for the first time pushed the U.S. for a timetable indicating when U.S. forces would leave the country. >>Read More