Is Hillary Clinton willing to commit troops to Iraq longer than you

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MR. GOLER: Governor Romney, you have suggested that U.S. troops in Iraq move to a support phase after the surge, which pretty much has to end in the spring, and a standby phase after that in Kuwait and Qatar. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems even Hillary Clinton is willing to commit troops to Iraq longer than that, sir.

MR. ROMNEY: I don’t have a time frame that I’ve announced. What I’ve indicated is that -- is very consistent with what the president is speaking about and what we’re hearing from Iraq right now. And that is that the surge is apparently working. We’re going to get a full report on that from General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker very soon. But the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Brookings have come back with positive reports.

If the surge is working, then we’re going to be able to start bringing back our troop levels, slowly but surely, and play more of a support role over time. Ultimately, down the road, I would anticipate that we’re not going to have a permanent presence in Iraq.

And we’ll be in a standby mode in surrounding nations. But we’ve -- when we consider moving to a support role and bringing, at some stage, our troop levels back, we’re going to be doing that from a position of strength, because the surge has worked.

There’s no question: It’s essential for America to show that we are committed to success in Iraq. Our men and women are the bravest and most patriotic in the world, that are over there fighting. We deserve to give them the kind of support they need to make this mission successful. (Applause.)

MR. WALLACE: Do you see that support phase, sir, in 2008?

MR. ROMNEY: I’m sorry.

MR. WALLACE: Do you see the support phase in 2008?

MR. ROMNEY: I think you’re going to begin to see, if the surge is working, and I think we’re going to get that report very soon, that we’re going to begin to slowly but surely pull back to a support role. But the timetable for that, I hope, will be as soon as possible. We all hope for that; we all hope for that.

But the question of timetable will depend upon how successful the surge is. And the key is we don’t start pulling back troops. We don’t go into a support mode until we are successful with the surge and we are providing the security and the stability that we anticipate for this country.