The president ended the Stop Loss policy, which involuntarily extended troops in theater past their commitment -- one of the most offensive policies to troops who made incredible sacrifice.
Tensions between Baghdad and Ankara have flared after Turkey's parliament voted to extend troop deployment to Iraq for another year.
"If we don't stop extending our troops all around the world, and nation-building missions, then we're going to have a serious problem".
And Mr Gates was smart enough to support the general, extending the troops' time in the battlefield and ordering the expansion of the army and marines.Mr Gates soothed relations with the top brass, the State Department and Congress that had been frayed by his predecessor's truculence.
They said we can, even though we were the strongest military, that if we don't do something quickly, we don't have a clearer vision of the military, we could -- if we don't stop extending our troops all around the world, and nation-building missions, then we're going to have a serious problem coming down the road.
In his first debate against Al, Gore Bush argued, "If we don't stop extending our troops all around the world in nation-building missions, then we're going to have a serious problem coming down the road, and I'm going to prevent that".
The 2004 siege of Najaf — the one collective uprising of Shiites that Iraq has seen since the war began — extended American troops to the limit.
He questioned calls to extend a troop surge in Iraq, declaring: "This war is lost".
Meanwhile, the debate persists in Baghdad over whether the government of Iraq should ask the United States to extend the troop deadline and allow some units to stay and continue training exercises.
The story of handcuffed execution and cover-up sparked outrage around the world in the midst of negotiations to extend U.S. troop presence into 2012 and, in response to international coverage, Iraq revived its investigation into the incident.
