A statement from U.S. Congressman John M. McHugh (R-NY), ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee, on Obama's reported decision to withdraw all U.S. combat forces by August 2010:
"Having just returned from my 10th trip to Iraq, I heard nothing from our military and civilian leaders that would validate such a decision at this time. The scheduling of troop withdrawals in Iraq has to be based on military imperatives-not on political considerations," said Rep. McHugh. "It's simply too early to tell if the hard-fought security gains can be sustained with fewer U.S. troops. The Secretary of Defense and the Army's former Vice Chief of Staff have both cautioned Congress recently against withdrawing U.S. forces too quickly," continued McHugh. "Republicans look forward to receiving the Administration's official proposal, as well as working to ensure the security gains made by our brave troops are not jeopardized." McHugh pointed to the following comments made by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates at a January 27, 2009, hearing before the House Armed Services Committee as evidence that a wait-and-see approach toward the withdrawal of U.S. troops is warranted: "[2009] is a year that is actually fraught with both opportunity and risk, and they're the opposite sides of the same coin in the respect of really four elections that will be held: the provincial elections this fall-in a few days, the district and sub-district elections this summer in June, the referendum on the SOFA [Status of Forces Agreement] at the end of July, and then the national elections at the end of the year. If we make it through those elections, then the prospects I think for an enduring domestic peace in Iraq are substantially enhanced, and I think that-and we'll see how these elections go."