The Iraq Study Group has decided to recommend the American army transition from a combat to a support role in Iraq roughly over the next year, a source familiar with the panel's deliberations was quoted as saying. "The main thing is (the group is) calling for a transition from a combat role to a support role," said the source. "It's basically a redeployment."
According to Reuters, the source said the idea was to shift American combat forces both to bases inside Iraq as well as elsewhere in the region as the military gradually moved away from combat operations, adding that this should happen over the next year or so.
The New York Times earlier reported that there was no timetable for the proposed U.S. withdrawal, but the source said: "there is a kind of indication in the report as to when that ought to be completed ... sometime within the next year."
The group also decided to call for a regional conference that could lead to direct U.S. talks with Iran and Syria.
