U.S. military chief says Iraq conditions may change

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By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. military officer on Monday gave a cautious welcome to the new U.S.-Iraqi pact that calls for U.S. forces to leave the country in three years, but he warned security conditions could change.

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he and other senior U.S. commanders accept the terms of the new status of forces agreement, or SOFA, that will govern the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq after December 31.

But Mullen said he and other U.S. military officials, including U.S. Commander in Iraq Gen. Ray Odierno and his boss, Gen. David Petraeus, continue to prefer a withdrawal based on security conditions rather than timetables.

"I'm in a position that is still conditions-based and I think it needs to be measured," he said. "Three years is a long time. Conditions could change in that period of time."

U.S. commanders in the field have repeatedly warned that security gains are fragile and could easily be reversed.

The deal with Iraq commits Washington to withdraw its remaining force of about 150,000 troops by December 31, 2011, and Iraqi negotiators consider the firm date a victory after President George W. Bush long vowed not to accept a timetable.

Some Iraqi officials have said the pact won approval from political leaders after the November 4 U.S. election of Democrat Barack Obama, who has pledged to withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq by mid-2010. Defence officials say that only about one-third of the U.S. forces in Iraq are combat troops.

Another U.S. military official said the agreement contains enough caveats to allow the Iraqi government to request that U.S. forces remain in Iraq as needed.

Asked if he was at odds with Obama, Mullen replied: "What President-elect Obama has also said is that he would seek the counsel of myself and the Joint Chiefs before he made any decisions. And so I look forward to that discussion, look forward to the engagement, and certainly want to give him ... the best advice I can."

Key to the withdrawal of U.S. troops is the ability of Iraqi forces to take over security nationwide, a prospect that Mullen described as "a strong possibility" over the 36-month time-span laid out in the agreement.

The agreement also calls for U.S. forces to leave Iraqi towns and villages by the middle of next year.

Mullen said withdrawing from population centres is what the U.S. military does already when security is turned over to Iraqis at the provincial level.

But leaving Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul, where security forces continue to battle al Qaeda fighters, could prove difficult.

"That will be a big challenge," Mullen said.

Other U.S. reaction was less positive.

U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri, Democratic chairman of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, said he was "deeply troubled" by sections of the agreement that "could result in U.S. troops facing prosecution in Iraqi courts."

(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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