Neo-cons warn against losing Iraq peace

A familiar group of mainly neo-conservative hawks, many of whom championed the 2003 invasion of Iraq, released an open letter to President Barack Obama Thursday urging him to retain a substantial military force in that Middle East country beyond this year.

Released by the Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI), the successor organization of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) that championed the 2003 US invasion, the letter warns against reported plans by the administration to reduce Washington's troop presence to 4,000 after December 31, the date by which, according to a 2008 US-Iraqi agreement, all US forces are to be withdrawn.