The top U.S. commander in Iraq predicted on Thursday that the size of the
U.S. fighting force will shrink this year, although he said he had not made new
recommendations to his Pentagon bosses on the size and timing of any cuts.
Army General George
Casey (L) speaks as U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld watches
during their joint news conference at the Pentagon in Washington June 22,
2006. [Reuters] |
"I'm confident that we'll be able to continue to take reductions over the
course of this year," Army Gen. George Casey told a Pentagon news conference
with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld at his side.
Rumsfeld said Casey had not yet had sufficient time to consult with the new
Iraqi government, but that in any case the size of the U.S. force is likely to
rise and fall in coming months, depending on political and security conditions.
"It will very likely not be a steady path down," Rumsfeld said. "It could
very likely be a drawdown with an increase." Noting that there now are 126,900
U.S. troops in Iraq, he said: "It could very well go back up at some point. It
very likely will go down and up and down and up depending on the circumstances
and depending on the need."
Casey, who said more than once last year that he expected to see "fairly
substantial" U.S. troop reductions during spring and summer of 2006, noted that
the force has dropped from about 138,000 in March to 126,900 now.
"Whether that's 'fairly substantial' enough, I'll leave to your judgment," he
said. "As I said, I think there will be continued gradual reductions here as the
Iraqis take on a larger and larger role."
Casey also said that members of the Sunni insurgency have been reaching out
to the new Iraqi government, giving U.S. military commanders opportunities to
forge communications with the resistance groups.
Casey said the U.S. military and the Iraqi government "have several different
strands of contacts going on, and there are opportunities in that regard we just
haven't had before." He did not elaborate. He also said the insurgency has grown
more complex in recent months, and he complained that it has been assisted by
Iranian special operations forces who provide bomb materials, weapons and
training to Shiite extremists in southern Iraq.
"They are using surrogates to conduct terrorist operations in Iraq both
against us and against the Iraqi people," Casey said. "It's decidedly
unhelpful." He added there has been a "noticeable increase" in the problem since
January, but he could not quantify it, Casey also said
Iran has become
the main source of materials to make makeshift roadside bombs that regularly
kill U.S. troops as well as Iraqis. "Those primarily come from Iran," he said.
"We're seeing attacks and we're finding more of them. So it's coming in from, we
believe, Iran."
The Republican-controlled Senate on Thursday soundly rejected two Democratic
attempts to urge withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, including an amendment to
begin pulling out by the end of the year. GOP lawmakers accused the Democrats of
wanting to abandon Iraq before the mission is complete, while Democrats said it
is time for changes in Bush's failed Iraq strategy.
Asked about the wisdom of setting a fixed date for the start of a U.S. troop
withdrawal, Casey said he opposed that approach.
"I feel it would limit my flexibility," he said. "I think it would give the
enemy a fixed timetable. And I think it would send a terrible signal to a new
government of national unity in Iraq that's trying to stand up and get its legs
underneath it."
