U.S. Defense Secretary &to=http://english.pravda.ru/mailbox/22/101/399/15357_Rumsfeld.html' target=_blank>Donald H. Rumsfeld hinted Thursday that the U.S. military will soon begin reducing its troop strength in Iraq below 138,000, the level it has considered its core force in the country for most of this year.
On an unannounced holiday visit to the Iraqi capital, Rumsfeld hinted a preliminary decision had been made to achieve the modest reduction by canceling the scheduled deployment of two Army brigades.
The cancellation of the deployments would gradually decrease the number of troops in Iraq by 6,000 to 7,000, said a Defense Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity because an announcement was not yet final. The official said that would bring the troop level in the country to a little above 130,000 sometime next spring,
The U.S. temporarily built up its forces in Iraq to about 160,000 to provide extra security during the Oct. 15 referendum and the Dec. 15 election. Rumsfeld had previously said those 20,000 extra troops would be leaving soon, and said Thursday that the latest reductions being considered would be in addition to those.
The decision comes as the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush is under pressure by critics to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq. Bush, however, has rejected talk of a withdrawal timetable, saying this would only embolden the insurgency, leave the U.S. prone to new attacks and undercut the goal of securing a stable future for the new Iraq.
In an interview with reporters traveling with him on an Air Force cargo plane to Baghdad, Rumsfeld hinted that a preliminary decision had been made to go below the 138,000 baseline by not deploying a brigade of the 1st Infantry Division from Fort Riley, Kan., and a 1st Armored Division brigade now in Kuwait. Other officials have said small parts of each brigade were likely to go anyway.
Asked whether he'd made the decision to hold back those two brigades, Rumsfeld made a distinction between his decisions as defense secretary and final announcements by the U.S. government.
"Until it's announced, the government's decision hasn't been announced. Therefore it's not final," he said.
Later, Rumsfeld and Gen. George Casey pointedly declined to take any questions at a planned question-and-answer session with reporters at &to=http://english.pravda.ru/accidents/21/93/375/15370_iraq.html' target=_blank>U.S. military headquarters in Baghdad.
When a reporter pressed Casey on canceling the deployments and asked if he would explain the military rationale, Casey replied, "Not until it's been announced _ if it's announced."
Two weeks ago, two defense officials told The Associated Press that the Pentagon tentatively planned to cancel the scheduled deployment to Iraq of the 1st Infantry Division's 1st Brigade and instead send small teams from that unit to Iraq to train security forces.
They also said the 1st Armored Division's 2nd Brigade would not go to Iraq, as planned. Instead, up to two-thirds of that brigade would return to Germany, where they are usually based, and the rest would remain in Kuwait. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans were not final.
Rumsfeld also said he hoped that the Iraqis who will be putting together a full-term national government in coming weeks will take into account the risk of losing international support if they stumble.
"It's a big, big, enormous thing for them to try to accomplish in a relatively short period of time," he said, referring to the job of selecting a president, a prime minister and cabinet ministries, reports AP.
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