US plans for backup in case of failure in Iraq

Washington, Feb 8: The United States is developing backup plans if the current strategy of troop surge in Iraq failed to yield expected results, says Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

Testifying before Congress Tuesday and yesterday Gates said, he did not consider the new troop surge to Iraq the "last chance" for stability in the violence-torn country.

Gates also warned that the reinforcements could be halted if the Iraqi government does not uphold its commitments.

President Bush announced January 10 that he is ordering more than 25,000 additional troops to Iraq. With the surge, US troop levels in Iraq will exceed 160,000 in the next several months.

If the plan works, US troop reductions could begin by the end of 2007, Gates said.

''The performance of the Iraqis is absolutely critical to the success of this operation,'' Gates said of Iraqi security forces, which are taking a leading role in establishing secure sectors throughout Baghdad. This is not the last chance, Gates said of the troop increase.

He said, ''we are certainly hoping that the Baghdad Security Plan would be successful. We are resourcing it to be successful. We are sending the troops forward as General [David] Petraeus has asked and as the Joint Chiefs have recommended.'' Petraeus is the newly appointed coalition forces commander in Iraq.

Gates said, ''I think that it would be irresponsible of me not to be looking at alternatives should these expectations and hopes not prove to be fulfilled. And so without getting into any details, I will simply say that I have asked that we begin to look at other contingencies and other alternatives.'' Gates, however, said President Bush would make the final decision on whether to halt the deployment of the additional personnel, ''We will have a continuing evaluation going on in terms of the Iraqis' performance. But the troops are, at this point, all under orders to deploy.''

UNI

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