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Rumsfeld: Troops in Iraq to be cut
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-23 21:15
He watched Jordanian special operations soldiers in a mock assault on a
building, using live ammunition, and then spoke to a group who are among the 92
undergoing training now. Rumsfeld told them their work is important to
eventually allowing U.S. troops to leave their country.
"The United States and the coalition countries are anxious to turn over the
security responsibilities to the Iraqis as soon as we are able to do so," said
Rumsfeld, who arrived in the country Thursday for his 11th visit since the
U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.
Bush is under growing pressure from the Republican-run Congress to cut U.S.
forces in Iraq. The conflict's acceptance by American voters has plummeted as
the war's toll has mounted to more than 2,100 U.S. war dead and 15,000 wounded.
Bush, Rumsfeld and other administration officials have said a withdrawal
would begin when the U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces show sufficient signs of
being able to defend the country against insurgents.
There were 159,000 U.S. troops in Iraq on Thursday.
Iraq on Oct. 15 held a constitutional referendum, and on Dec. 15 held
elections for a full-term government.
For the first time since the insurgency took hold in Iraq in midsummer 2003,
Rumsfeld was spending the night in the country. He previously had made Iraq day
trips but spent the night in other countries in the region.
In Afghanistan earlier Thursday, military officials said they were
progressing toward eliminating the Taliban resistance and al-Qaida terrorists
who continue sporadic violence against U.S. troops.
But some officers said the hostile forces were making gains by acquiring more
advanced weaponry, such as armor-piercing munitions, and improving their
training and organization.
Asked whether conditions in southern Afghanistan are more dangerous than
earlier in the conflict, Capt. Matthew Harmon, commander of headquarters
company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group, said in an interview, "That's
a very fair assessment." Harmon is serving his fourth tour in Afghanistan.
Capt. Chris Sample said the 1st Battalion had engaged in 88 firefights in the
past six months. That is more than in its three previous Afghanistan deployments
combined, he said. There also has been a recent increase in vehicle-borne
suicide bombers, he said.
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