Top General Eyes Late-Summer Troop Cuts

Top U.S. Commander In Iraq Says 21,500 Extra Troops Could Be Heading Home By Fall

(CBS/AP)  Gen. George Casey, the top American commander in Iraq, said Friday that some of the extra troops that President Bush ordered to Baghdad could begin leaving by late summer if conditions allow.

"I think it's probably going to be the summer, late summer, before you get to the point where people in Baghdad feel safe in their neighborhoods," Casey told reporters at a news conference with visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Asked how long the 21,500 extra U.S. troops are likely to be kept in Iraq, Casey replied, "I believe the projections are, late summer."

CBS News correspondent Cami McCormick reports the U.S. influx is underway, with a brigade of the 82nd Airborne that recently arrived in Baghdad already at work clearing neighborhoods in the dangerous capital city.

McCormick says additional troops are also to be sent to the restive Anbar province.

Gates' visit here — his second since replacing Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld last month — was not announced in advance. It comes as the Bush administration begins a new phase in the war including a troop buildup that has encountered widespread opposition in Congress, a reshuffling of Mideast commanders and diplomats, and intensified military pressure on Iran.

Gates immediately went into talks with U.S. commanders and their allied counterparts amid the burgeoning war policy debate in the United States.

The first group of extra troops — a brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division — has just arrived in Baghdad, and Gates said it was too early to predict how Bush's plan for quelling the sectarian violence in the capital will work. Four other brigades are to be sent to Iraq between now and May, assuming the Iraqis follow through on their commitment to bring three additional Iraqi army brigades into Baghdad and to allow raids against all illegal militias.

Asked how the Iraqi government was doing to meet its commitments, Casey said, "So far, so good."

Gates arrival in Iraq was made public hours after officials announced that U.S. and Iraqi forces had arrested a top aide to Muqtada al-Sadr, who runs the country's most feared Shiite militia and is viewed by many Sunni's as being in cahoots with Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Casey stressed that it was too early to say with confidence how long the U.S. military will have to maintain a higher troop level in Baghdad and western Anbar province. But he sounded an optimistic note.

"You're going to see some progress gradually over the next 60 to 90 days," he said.

Casey is being replaced soon by Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, although the timing is uncertain. Casey has been nominated to become the next chief of staff of the U.S. Army, but he has not yet been confirmed in that job by the Senate.

"It will be late summer before we see the results that would cause us to make some decisions like that," Casey added, referring to the prospect of reducing the overall size of the American force, which stood at 132,000 troops at the time Bush announced he was sending reinforcements.

The troop buildup is scheduled to unfold in phases, with the full contingent of five extra brigades not in place until May.

Britain, which has the largest troop contingent among the U.S. allies, with about 7,000 soldiers in the Basra area, is planning to withdraw a large portion of them this year.

Gates said at the outset of his weeklong overseas trip that he realized the security situation in southern Iraq is different than in Baghdad, where the United States is building up its troop strength.

Gates and Casey took a cargo plane to the Tallil air base near the ancient city of Ur and about 10 miles from the southern city of Nasiriyah. They met there with commanders from several coalition countries, including Australia, Poland, Romania and Denmark.

On his first visit to Iraq after being sworn in on Dec. 18, Gates met in Baghdad with U.S. commanders and Iraqi government leaders just weeks before Bush announced his new strategy for Iraq.

A British military spokesman in Basra told reporters that no "hard evidence" had been obtained of Iranian arms, money or weapons technology entering southern Iraq, but he added, "As a gut feeling we know there is Iranian influence" here. The predominantly Shiite Muslim areas of southern Iraq have historic ties to Iran, which is a predominantly Shiite nation.

The Bush administration has accused Iran of meddling in Iraqi affairs and contributing technology and bomb-making materials for insurgents to use against U.S. and Iraqi security forces.

The British spokesman, Maj. Chris Ormond-King, also said it was possible that Basra province, which includes the city of the same name, could be turned over to full Iraqi government control by this spring. He said there is no firm timetable. Basra is Iraq's second-largest city after Baghdad.

Two of the other four provinces in southeastern Iraq that are the responsibility of the British-led multinational force were returned to full Iraqi control last year. A third, Maysan province, is due to be turned over to the Iraqis in several weeks, Ormond-King said.

Although security in southern Iraq is better than in Baghdad, the British are still having some trouble with militia influence within the Iraqi police services.

Gates' overseas tour began in London and took him to NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, and to Afghanistan before he arrived in the Gulf on Wednesday.

[randalds]

-All I'm saying is that God says in the Bible that Israel is His chosen land for His people, from the beginning of time. He originally gave the land of Canaan(Israel) to Abraham...and you know the story behind that. It also says that Israel cannot and will not be defeated because of this...and they haven't to this day....so you have to give this some thought...


Anyhow...have a good day.
Posted by singinrick at 06:12 PM : Jan 20, 2007

Insanity. Complete and total insanity. Basing our current foreign policy on the writings of a bunch of desert dwellers from thousands of years ago who's main interest was to create a god to keep the ignorant in line. They wrote a book of myths and fairy tales to try to illustrate how the world began and why they should be the authority on it. The stories range far and wide, but all revolve around their self-centered belief that in all of the vast, infinite universe there was a god that cared for them and only them to the complete exclusion of everyone else. That all of the trillions and trillions of other planets are uninhabited and this "being" revolves it's entire existence around a tiny group of ignorant desert nomads in a tiny place on an unremarkable planet revolving around a common star in just another one of billions of galaxies. Insanity.

[frankbowers]

How sad anyone would say Fox is equal; liberal republican. That station management will tell you they are not equal times been sent or spent on each group they will tell you they are primarly the republican word and the RNC enforces such. Frank Bowers in Austin, TX

[frankbowers]

There is about as much chance in a troop reduction within 18 months as there gw bush resigns. This reduction will come in about August or Sept. prior to the election in hopes it will help elect his/the next repubican president. The man gw bush has not in the past 4 or 5 years listened to any one including his momma who lied for in in 72. We/he needs a big oak with strong limbs and a good size rope to help solve the problem of the world now that he has screwed it up for his and d cheney's.LOL
;_((( The Best of Good byes Frank Bowers in Austin,
TX

[j-whitman]

Intresting developments happening now...
- Republicans are scrambling to get thier own Non Binding legislation to oppose Bush plan.
- Bush surreneders more of his hard fought issues such as Medical Insurance & Domestic Spying to dems...
- He's now playing election politics with our nation & Troops, positioning his party for 08

[exusmcsgt]

singinrick-

We've had more than enough foreign policy dictated by a 2,000 year old theological manual.

The sooner we stop using the Bible as a road map and the Muslims stop using the Quran, the better off we all will be.

Otherwise, it'll be The Crusades, ad infinitim.

[j-whitman]

See you

[j-whitman]

Singinick,,, Fox is as this administration is -- Only gives us part of the facts on issues,, They have driven this rehtoric on "Americans Lose The Will To Fight" ,, "Dems will cut funding for the Troops",, "They hate us for thier freedoms" ,, All quite wrong -- they have people like Ollie North who damaged our national security in Central America & Much Much More.

[j-whitman]

Quite a change indeed... Gotta go, see ya later

[j-whitman]

Bush's own Iraq Study Group came back & told us, that there is under reporting of bad news in our media.

[j-whitman]

Wihtout the media, we would still be in Viet Nam or worse.... The best we can do is absorb as much as we can from all sources & decide -- I've found Nightline on the breaking edge of many accurate stories,,, Washington Week on PBS accurate, they won a Grammy for thier nuetrality & lack of Bias.

[j-whitman]

God's chosen land,, Same thing Palestine people say --- Intresting subject,, During that time & many years later, Kings where God's.

[j-whitman]

San Antinio,, been there a few times, last time 7 years ago, rescuing my daughter from a bad marriage.

[j-whitman]

Singinick,,, I was watching Nightline last night,, Isreals President told his generals "Stop the rehtoric, Iran is no threat to Isreal",,, Bush still screams they are.

[j-whitman]

Love one another & our enemy's --- Which part of that did our "Decider" not understand ??

[j-whitman]

Singinick,, How's your weather? It's sunny & in the 60's around Sacramento

[j-whitman]

Singinick,, Doing great, my Pops healthy & staying out of the hospital... I can only complain about our leadership.

[j-whitman]

Singinick,,
- All the more reason for Moderate Christians to openly confront Radical Christians as Moderate Muslems are now openly confronting Radical Muslems.

[j-whitman]

Dirtydog,,,
- Singinick is allright,,, It's our Old Fashioned Ideaolog which needs to be addressed,, & fast.
- We need Moderate Christians confronting Radical Christians as Moderate Muslems are confronting Radical Muslems

That will do more to defete Terrorism that War ever could... That and attention to our decades long bad Foreign Policies

[dirtydog55]

singinric said "The Christian has to go strickly by faith!"

That pretty much sums it up. If one leans more toward the mythos then one is becoming, or alread is, a fundamentalist. One doesn't have to look very far to find Christian fundamentalists and the destruction some of them have created.

In addition, those who know their religious history, including Christians, know that Jews, Christians, and Muslems worship the same God.

If you knew your religious history you would know that the Q'uran forbids Muslems to worship Jesus, which, in early Islam history, many Muslems were doing. In addition, the Islam religion treats pagans no differently than any other religion treats pagans.

As far a worshipping Jesus and not God, most Christians worship both. Christianity is the only major religion that worships a human being.

[j-whitman]

Then we talk about National Security, my pet issue,,,,
- Bush's Trade Policies built up Communist China's military, at the cost of our country
- Bush insisted on being the only nation Not to sign on to Anti Star Wars Agreements in 2005
- China now threatens our sattilites,, Without Them Our Troops cannot fight

Bush causes "Potential Damage" to our National Security