Top General: US should consider embedding troops in Iraq

General Ray Odierno is retiring this week as the Army’s Chief of Staff, and he’s leaving with a final salvo on the subject of troop strength. He noted, however, that the withdrawal from Iraq had been negotiated under President George W. Bush in 2008 and in 2011 only carried out under President Obama.

“I believe Russian Federation is the most unsafe because of a couple things”, Odierno said in the press conference. He said violence was down, the economy was growing and the political situation was stable.

The general said that had the U.S. not withdrawn all troops from Iraq in 2011, “we may not have been where we are now”.

Odierno is stepping down and will retire on Friday after 39 years in the military and four years at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Odierno also commanded U.S. forces in Iraq.

“We have deterrent there and I think we’re doing a good job with that”, he said.

Standing before a podium raised to accommodate his 6-foot, 6-inch frame, the general said the solution to sectarian rivalry in the wartorn nation might be an Iraq that “might not look like it did in the past”. “I absolutely believe that the region has to solve this problem”.

And that, he said, allowed Islamic State militants to exploit the fissures and find open territory in Syria to begin to grow their forces and build their capabilities. “For me it’s about changing the dynamics, the political dynamics, the economic dynamics, and it has to be done by those in the region”, he said. Some lawmakers have criticized the current strategy, saying some U.S. troops should be deployed with Iraqi forces to help the air campaign by identifying targets and calling in air strikes. “First they are more mature than some of our other potential adversaries, and I think they have stated some intents that concern me, in terms of how the Cold War ended”.

ISIS still retains between 20,000 and 30,000 soldiers despite a year of American-led airstrikes which U.S. officials say have killed thousands of militants and extremist leaders. “But they are still able to recruit, and get people to come in and fight – and that’s what’s concerning to me”.