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WASHINGTON: The United States may significantly cut its military
presence in Iraq next year regardless of who is elected president in
November because of improving security in the country, USA Today
reported Monday.
Citing military experts and recent official
statements, the newspaper said, however, that US commanders remained
cautious about predicting further withdrawals.
“I believe the momentum we have is not
reversible,” said Jack Keane, a retired Army vice chief of staff
who helped develop the Iraq “surge” strategy adopted by
President George W. Bush in January 2007.
There will be “significant reductions in 2009
whoever becomes president,” he is quoted as predicting.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki echoed
Keane’s optimism Saturday by declaring that “we defeated” the
terrorists in Iraq, the report said.
But US commanders remain cautious, USA Today
pointed out. Army Lieutenant General Lloyd Austin, the
second-ranking US commander in Iraq, said recently that “our
progress is fragile, and we continue to work to make this progress
irreversible.”
Meanwhile, violence in Afghanistan is growing,
increasing pressure to shift more troops from Iraq to there, the
paper said.
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Michael
Mullen said he wanted to send more US troops to Afghanistan, but he
did not want to sacrifice gains in Iraq by shifting troops too soon,
USA Today noted.
Four of the five extra brigades sent to Iraq
last year have already left the country, the report said. The last
unit is preparing to leave this month.
Even after five combat brigades leave, about
140,000 US troops will remain in Iraq, according to the report.
-- AFP
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