By Andrew Gray
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.
In an interview with Reuters after he met Gates, Petraeusadvocated a cautious approach to cutting American firepower.
"We're going to cut one quarter of our combat power in aperiod of overall 6-8 months," said Petraeus, who will giveclosely watched testimony to Congress in early April aboutIraq.
"That's a very substantial reduction and we want to beprudent in what we do following that so we don't jeopardise thegains that our troops and our Iraqi partners have fought sohard to achieve."
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.
CAR BOMBS IN BAGHDAD
In a sign of the political sensitivity in Washington ofIraq troop numbers, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino did notback Gates's support for a pause in force reductions.
"I don't know if he (Gates) endorsed anything. The quote Iread was that he was considering that and thinking it might bethe direction he would think he'd want to head in terms of hisown recommendation," Perino said in Washington.
Violence has fallen across Iraq with attacks down 60percent since last June, but bombings and sectarian killingshave continued on a smaller scale.
Shortly before Gates left Baghdad, two car bombs explodedin the city, killing at least 15 people, Iraqi police said.
On Sunday, one of Iraq's bloodiest days for months,militants killed more than 50 people, mainly in the north,where al Qaeda militants regrouped after being driven out offormer strongholds in western Anbar province and from aroundBaghdad.
The military calls Sunni Islamist al Qaeda the greatestthreat to Iraq's security and blames it for most majorbombings.
Commenting on the improved security, Gates said al Qaedahad been routed in Iraq but that the situation in the countryremained fragile.
"What a difference you made -- al Qaeda routed, insurgentsco-opted. Levels of violence of all kinds dramaticallyreduced," Gates said in a brief speech to U.S. troops inBaghdad.
Petraeus, however, said al Qaeda remained "very lethal"despite having sustained severe blows.
Many 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.
(Additional reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky in Washington,Writing by Dean Yates; Editing by Alison Williams)
