Pentagon says making contingency Iraq pullout plan

WASHINGTON, July 26 (Reuters) The Pentagon is making contingency plans for a US withdrawal of troops from Iraq, according to US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who called the planning a ''priority.'' In a letter delivered on Tuesday to Sen Hillary Clinton, a New York Democrat and presidential candidate who tangled with the Pentagon to learn whether such plans exist, Gates said he was actively involved in drafting them.

''You may rest assured that such planning is indeed taking place with my active involvement as well as that of senior military and civilian officials and our commanders in the field,'' Gates said in the letter obtained by Reuters.

''I consider this contingency planning to be a priority for this department,'' he said.

This spring some 30,000 more US troops were sent to Iraq, bringing the total force to about 157,000, under the current security plan aimed at establishing enough security to allow Iraqi politicians to make progress toward reconciliation.

All of the so-called ''surge'' forces have been in place since June 15. Democrats in Congress, however, are calling for a strategy change leading to withdrawal.

Clinton had asked the Pentagon in May for information about contingency planning for a possible troop withdrawal from Iraq.

Defense Under Secretary Eric Edelman, in the Pentagon's written response, did not address whether the Defense Department was making such plans. Instead, he said public discussion of withdrawal ''reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies.'' Clinton called the response unacceptable and outrageous.

Gates, in a follow-up letter, said he would work with the Senate Armed Services Committee to establish a process to keep members informed about withdrawal planning.

He also backed Edelman, noting the official was given his first senior presidential appointment as an ambassador in 1998, during the administration of the senator's husband, former President Bill Clinton.

REUTERS SY BD2313