Gates hopes to cut more US troops from Iraq
Washington,
Sep
15:
Defense
Secretary
Robert
Gates
said
today
he
hoped
that
troop
levels
in
Iraq
could
be
reduced
from
the
current
169,000
to
about
100,000
by
January
2009.
Army Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of US forces in Iraq, told Congress this week he planned to withdraw five combat brigades and several Marine units by mid-July of next year. A combat brigade can contain anywhere between 3,000 and 5,000 troops.
Gates said he hoped Petraeus would be able to recommend an additional drawdown of about five combat brigades - somewhere around 20,000 troops - in the second half of the year.
''My hope is that when he does his assessment in March ..
Gen Petraeus will be able to say that he thinks that the pace of drawdowns can continue at the same rate in the second half of the year as in the first half of the year,'' Gates said.
Speaking at a Pentagon news conference, Gates cautioned that any drawdown would depend on conditions in Iraq.
But
asked
if
withdrawing
another
five
combat
brigades
in
the
second
half
of
next
year
would
leave
roughly
100,000
troops
in
Iraq
in
January
2009,
Gates
replied:
''That
would
be
the
math.''
Reuters
>