Schwarzenegger backs 2007 deadline for U.S. in Iraq
Wed Jan 17, 2007 7:09 PM ET

By Adam Tanner

SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, suggested on Wednesday that the United States should withdraw its military forces from Iraq by the end of this year.

"We should set a deadline and a timeline of when we pull out," he told a annual media lunch in Sacramento.

"I think we should make it very clear to the Iraqi government that we are not going to stay there forever, that the end of this year they have to be self reliant and they have to create a military as quick as possible where they can take care of themselves."

Although the moderate Republican from the nation's most populous state has previously suggested the idea of a timeline for U.S. involvement in Iraq, he has not mentioned a date as soon as the end of 2007.

Schwarzenegger said that he supported President George W. Bush's recent plan to send an additional 21,500 U.S. troops to Iraq.

"I just hope that he makes the right decision in what he is doing by sending more troops," Schwarzenegger said. "I personally believe that we should not turn our back on Iraq and just walk away because a few mistakes were made. I think we should give it everything."

"I think we can pull out of there in a victorious way."

In Washington, senators from both political parties sought to step up pressure on the president on Wednesday by passing a nonbinding resolution opposing the troop increase.

AT ODDS WITH PARTY

Although he spoke about the Iraq war in a television interview aired on Sunday, Schwarzenegger has generally shied away from the contentious issue. Yet he has sent out hundreds of condolence messages for California military personnel killed in Iraq and the flag at the state capitol frequently flies at half mast in their honor.

Buoyed by a landslide re-election victory in November, Schwarzenegger has mapped out an ambitious legislative agenda in California that puts him at odds with many of the national party's positions. He is seeking to require all Californians to have health insurance and has championed measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming.

"The federal government has failed so far to address those issues," he told the Sacramento Press Club. "That's why we as a state have to fight over those things when in fact it should be the federal government that is addressing those issues."

As an Austrian-born American, Schwarzenegger cannot run for U.S. president, but he said he would travel to different states as the 2008 presidential race heats to give speeches on issues.

He said he also favored moving up the California primary to February 2008 to give the state more influence in the process. Such a change could happen only if approved by the state legislature.

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　共和党のシュワルツェネッガー米カリフォルニア州知事が17日、米軍は年内にイラクから撤退するべきだと提言した。

　米国世論の高まりと、先の中間選挙で共和党が民主党に逆転されたことなどを受けてのことだろうけれど。でも、シュワルツェネッガーは、ブッシュ大統領が明らかにした、イラクへの米軍部隊21,500人の増派は支持している。