Warner Says U.S. Should Start Withdrawing Troops on Sept. 15

By Bill Roberts

Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Virginia Senator John Warner said President George W. Bush should begin withdrawing troops from Iraq on Sept. 15 to show the Iraqi government that the U.S. commitment there isn't open-ended.

Bush should announce that "we will start an orderly, carefully planned, thought-out redeployment,'' said Warner, the No. 2 Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Warner said the number of troops to be withdrawn and the timing of the withdrawal would be up to the president.

Warner suggested Bush should pick a few thousand soldiers out of the 162,000 U.S. combat troops now in Iraq, or "whatever number he wants,'' Warner said.

"Say 500 could begin to redeploy and be home not later than Christmas of this year,'' Warner said.