Gates backs pause in U.S. troop pullout
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gatessaid on Monday he backed a brief pause in U.S. troop reductionsfrom Iraq once an initial pullout of five combat brigades hasbeen completed in July.
Troop levels in Iraq are a big U.S. political issue,particularly in a presidential election year. Both leadingDemocrats want a swift withdrawal, while Republicans have saidU.S. commanders should decide when it is safe to pull out.
"I think that the notion of a brief period of consolidationand evaluation probably does make sense," Gates told reportersin Baghdad, endorsing publicly for the first time an ideamooted by the U.S. military commander in Iraq, General DavidPetraeus.
Asked how long this period of evaluation would last, Gatessaid: "That's one of the things we are still thinking about."
Last year President George W. Bush ordered 30,000 extratroops to Iraq to curb rampant sectarian violence between theShi'ite Muslim majority and Sunni Arabs that had taken thecountry to the brink of civil war.
But U.S. force levels have begun to drop because ofimprovements in security and as more Iraqi forces are deployed.The number of U.S. troops in Iraq will be 130,000 by July, thesame as before additional deployments began in early 2007.
Petraeus said in a CNN interview late last month he wouldneed some time to "let things settle a bit" after the initialreduction, prompting speculation he wanted to keep about130,000 troops or more in Iraq well into the second half of theyear.
Asked if Petraeus had explained his thinking, Gates said:
"In my own thinking, I had been kind of headed in thatdirection as well. But one of the keys is ... how long is thatperiod? And what happens after that."
Troop levels are also a challenge for U.S. military chiefs,who have seen their forces severely strained by the wars inIraq and Afghanistan. Any drawdown in Iraq could reduce thatstrain.
AL QAEDA ROUTED
Violence has fallen across Iraq with attacks down 60percent since last June when the reinforcements became fullydeployed, but bomb attacks and sectarian killings havecontinued on a smaller scale.
Shortly before Gates left Baghdad, two car bombs explodedin the city, killing at least 15 people and wounding 45, Iraqipolice said.
On Sunday, militants killed more than 50 people in one ofIraq's bloodiest days for months, mainly in the north, where alQaeda militants regrouped after being driven out of formerstrongholds in western Anbar province and from around Baghdad.
It included one suicide car bomb that killed 33 people nearthe northern town of Balad.
U.S. military commanders have said while Sunni Islamist alQaeda was badly weakened, it remains a potent threat. Themilitary still calls al Qaeda the greatest threat to Iraq'ssecurity and blames it for most major bombings.
Commenting on the improved security, Gates said al Qaedahad been routed in Iraq, without elaborating further, but thatthe situation in the country remained fragile.
Earlier Gates praised troops for bringing about a "prettyremarkable" change in Iraq.
"What a difference you made -- al Qaeda routed, insurgentsco-opted. Levels of violence of all kinds dramaticallyreduced," Gates said in a brief speech in Baghdad.
"The situation in Iraq continues to remain fragile but theIraqi people now have an opportunity to forge a better, moresecure and more prosperous future," said Gates.
U.S. military officials were not available to elaborate onGates's comment about al Qaeda, which has been at the forefrontof opposition to the American presence and the Shi'ite-ledgovernment in Iraq.
Many of Sunni Arab insurgents, once-dominant under SaddamHussein and from whose ranks insurgents drew support, havesince switched sides, joining U.S.-backed neighbourhoodsecurity units to fight al Qaeda and patrol their owndistricts.
(Writing by Dean Yates; Editing by Samia Nakhoul)