Gates: Troop Withdrawal May Pause After Summer

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USAToday.com
February 11, 2008 By Jim Michaels, USA Today
BAGHDAD — Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday that a brief pause in the troop withdrawal after the current reducton ends this summer "does make sense."
The military is expected to reduce the number of forces to "pre-surge" levels by July and Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, is expected to make a recommendation this spring about further troop drawdowns.
Petraeus and others have suggested taking some time to measure the impact on security after troops return to the levels before President Bush ordered a temporary escalation last year.
"I think the notion of a brief period of consolidation and evaluation probably does make sense," Gates said after meeting here with Petraeus for about two hours. "I must say that in my own thinking I have been ... heading in that direction as well."
"One of the keys is how long is that period and what happens after that," Gates said. "All of that is still to be determined and ultimately decided by the president."
The surge has resulted in a dramatic improvement in security, particularly in Baghdad and Anbar, where the extra troops were concentrated.
"Levels of violence of all kinds (are) dramatically reduced," Gates said. "The situation in Iraq continues to remain fragile, but the Iraqi people now have an opportunity to forge a better, more secure, more prosperous future."
Gates lauded the war record of Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the No. 2 commander in Iraq, at an awards ceremony.
Odierno is departing after 15 months in charge of the headquarters that carries out Petraeus' strategy on a day-to-day basis. Odierno is returning to Washington and has been nominated by Bush for promotion to four-star rank and assignment as Army vice chief of staff.
Iraq's government, long stymied by sectarian divisions, seems to have "become more energized over the last few weeks," Gates said Sunday during his unannounced visit.
Gates, who stopped in Iraq after speaking at a security conference in Munich, touted the Iraqi parliament's recent passage of a "de-Baathification" law that defines which members of Saddam Hussein's former ruling Baath Party are barred from government.
The legislation was hailed by the Bush administration as a major step toward reconciling Iraq's competing factions. Gates said he would discuss the prospects for future legislation with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other Iraqi leaders.
The purpose of the troop escalation, or "surge," ordered last year by the White House, was to improve security enough to allow Iraq's government to pass legislation and take other action aimed at reconciliation.
Iraq's government is still grappling with key legislation, such as the provincial powers act. Gates said the act involves fundamental questions about how Iraq's government will be structured and it will take time to sort out.
Before Gates' arrival, the U.S. military said a diary and another document seized during raids showed that some al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders fear the terrorist group is crumbling and that many fighters are defecting to American-backed neighborhood groups.
Bush, discussing the long-term U.S. relationship with Iraq, said in an interview broadcast in the United States: "We will be there at the invitation of the Iraqi government. ... We won't have permanent bases. I do believe it is in our interests and the interests of the Iraqi people that we do enter into an agreement on how we are going to conduct ourselves over the next years."
Gates arrived after dark Sunday at Baghdad International Airport aboard an Air Force C-17 cargo plane. He flew by helicopter to a private dinner with government officials, including al-Maliki, Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker.
Before leaving for Iraq, Gates told U.S. allies in Munich that the war in Afghanistan is central to Europe's security and that all NATO nations must share more responsibility for fighting there.
"Some allies ought not have the luxury of opting only for stability and civilian operations, forcing other allies to bear a disproportionate share of the fighting and the dying," Gates said.
He said the division threatens the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance, which was formed after World War II as a bulwark against the Soviet bloc.
"We must not — we cannot — become a two-tiered alliance of those who are willing to fight and those who are not," Gates said.
Contributing: Associated Press
 
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