Gates Expresses Hope For Deeper Troop Cuts

Defense Secretary Gates Forecasts As Few As 100,000 U.S. Troops In Iraq By End Of 2008

(CBS/AP)  Defense Secretary Robert Gates raised the possibility Friday of cutting U.S. troop levels in Iraq to 100,000 by the end of next year, well beyond the cuts President Bush has approved.

Gates said it was possible that conditions in Iraq would improve enough to merit much deeper troop cuts than are currently scheduled for 2008.

Secretary Gates stressed that the 100,000 troop number is his hope, not an administration plan, reports CBS News chief White House correspondent Jim Axelrod.

Asked at a news conference whether he was referring to going from today's level of about 169,000 U.S. troops to about 100,000 by the end of next year, Gates replied, “That would be the math.” He quickly added, however, that because “there is no script” in war, his hoped-for cuts could vanish.

It was the first time a member of Bush's war cabinet had publicly suggested such deep reductions, perhaps offering a conciliatory hand to anti-war Democrats and some wary Republicans in Congress who have been pushing for troop reductions, a change in the U.S. mission and an end to the war.

Even with cutbacks promised by President Bush, the United States may wind up with thousands more troops in Iraq next summer than before the buildup of forces he ordered in January.

Bush approved the redeployment of five Army combat brigades and three Marine contingents between now and July 2008, but that does not account for thousands of support forces - including military police and an Army combat aviation brigade - that were sent as "enablers" and that apparently will stay longer.

For example, the headquarters staff of the 3rd Infantry Division, commanded by Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, was sent in April to establish a new operational command area south and southeast of Baghdad. They were not counted among the original "surge" forces, and it's not clear how long they will remain.

There currently are about 169,000 U.S. troops in Iraq - the highest total of the war. When Bush announced a buildup last January as the centerpiece of a new war strategy, there were 130,000 to 135,000 in Iraq.

In a visit to the Marine base at Quantico, Va., on Friday, Bush said commanders in Iraq would "have the flexibility and the troops needed to achieve the mission," and he urged Congress to heed the advice of Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, not to withdraw too speedily.

"I also expect the Congress to support our men and women in uniform and their families," Bush said.

He spoke shortly after the White House sent to Congress a report indicating Iraqi political leaders have gained little new ground on key goals such as passing legislation meant to promote a national reconciliation.

Next week the Senate is expected to resume debate on anti-war legislation. Democratic leaders are expected to call for a vote on about a half dozen amendments, including one by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., that would require troops to spend as much time at home as they do on combat tours in Iraq.

It's not yet clear how large the U.S. force will be by next summer, and the ambiguity is feeding a sense among anti-war critics that progress Bush claims U.S. forces have made in recent months is too fragile to put the administration on a path to winding down the war before the president leaves office in January 2009.

"It's clear that President Bush intends to drag this process out month after month, year after year, so that he can hand his Iraqi policy off to the next president," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. "We have to change our policy now."

In a conference call with reporters Friday, Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, called administration officials "phonies" for suggesting the modest troop withdrawal is the result of gains made in Iraq, rather than the reality that the military is stretched too thin.

Biden, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, added, "There is no plan 'to win.' No plan how to leave. No plan how to end this. It's just a plan to keep ... all the venom from spilling out over the region, and we're using somewhere between 160,000 to 130,000 troops to do that."

When Petraeus delivered his much-anticipated Iraq report to Congress on Monday, he said he had recommended to Bush that they send home the Army and Marine forces that were part of the buildup Bush announced in January. Petraeus did not mention a troop reduction total, but the impression gained by many in Congress was that it was equivalent to the approximately 30,000 in the buildup.

In an Associated Press interview Thursday, Petraeus suggested the number would be less than 30,000 but he would not provide a specific figure. He said his staff was working out redeployment details.

It appears the reduction will be closer to 25,000, possibly less. Forecasts of future troop levels in Iraq are hazardous, as history has shown, because of the unpredictable nature of the conflict. Large reductions were planned for the latter half of 2006, but a flareup in violence killed that proposal.

In the interview, Petraeus mentioned one concrete example of a support element that likely will be kept after the "surge" combat forces leave. He cited some 2,000 military police sent last spring to help manage the extra detainees captured in stepped-up U.S. offensives in Baghdad and elsewhere. Some of those, he said, probably would remain after the extra combat units are withdrawn because detainee control will remain a challenge.

He gave other, largely overlooked examples during his congressional testimony. In an exchange Monday with House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., he said other forces were brought to Iraq this year for a variety of tasks.

They include an unspecified number of personnel associated with work on countering the insurgents' weapon of choice, the roadside bomb, Petraeus said. He also mentioned, without elaboration, that additional "intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance assets" were added to the force. He did not say how many would be brought home as the "surge" winds down; he described them as resources and people that "we would have wanted regardless of whether we were surging or not."

[pro-america]

iceman 1960:

A: It wasn''t a threat.

B. The only reason we are losing is because you idiots don''t know the diffrence between black and white.

C. Eat our dust you traitors.

[pro-america]

juwboy:

NO you are thining of episcapalions I am a batist.

[sgtrds]

when will the troops come home!

Posted by jimbo505 at 10:45 AM : Sep 15, 2007

They aren''t coming home as long as there is a republican neocon president. Bush and Cheney never had any intention of ever bringing them home and they still don''t They are in Iraq, building permanent bases, in order to launch future attacks against Iran and Syria. This war was never about terrorism or 9-11 or WMD''s. It is what it''s always been about, conquer and control the Middle-East for the oil and slaughter anyone who gets in the way. They have no plan on stopping for something as minor as the coming 2008 election. If a Democrat is too close to being elected the neoconservatives will simply have them killed. The order will come from Cheney. There is just too much money and too much power and too much chance on prison for Cheney and his buddies to allow anyone except a neocon to ever sit in the White House.

[jimbo505]

when will the troops come home!

[brianbwb-2009]

End of November, 2006
End of January, 2007
" " March
" " June

And the latest lie becomes;

End of 2008

[tomtomasters]

What defense do women have against it, and what about the deform babies? This abortion issue is taking on a whole new light, where abortion is legal to kill off the consequences of DU poisoned deformed babies caused from the illegal war in Iraq. Things are not getting better by any stretch of the imagination. They are going to get worse.
The Democratic leadership is so out of touch, and Republicans deny DU is a problem. They are either totally ignorant or out right liars. Many politicians have gone to Iraq and are likely candidates to contract the deadly poison. I bet McCain, Hillary, and Bush has it, without them even knowing it yet. Pretty unrealistic to think Iraqis will have any kind of economy or to trade in the world with DU poisoning now ingrained in its society. Even the idea of shipping Oil out of Iraq with DU floating in the crude to be shipped off to the US for distillation into the air is a major reality. Bush has created a monster.
Do I really want my daughter going to school to play with her girlfriend whose DU father just returned from Iraq giving his little darling hugs and kisses, so my daughter can be hanging around her to get the deadly ceramic uranium microbe lodged in her body? The answer is NO, and I know many parents in the US are going to feel the same. Educate yourselves on DU. There are many links. Here is one:
http://www.the7thfire.com/Politics%20and%20History/Depleted-Uranium.htm

[tomtomasters]

DU Depleted Uranium the Coming Crisis

So many people have no idea what is really coming. One crisis we do not recognize is DU Depleted Uranium that is slowly killing off entire brigades of Vets that was once known as Gulf War Syndrome. Tons of the stuff was blasted into Iraq. I read that 700 cruise missiles were fired but never landed where they were intended. Think of where they went in Iraq, and exploding tons of DU into the environment. It gets into the water, contaminates food and fields, live stock and birds. This crime is going to wipe out the entire Iraqi population in the coming years.
And then we are without thinking; bringing DU contaminated troops back to the US to mingle in our communities, to contaminate our family and friends? The US will become like Iraq with deformed babies and wives and girlfriends slowly dying from the poison. It will probably get into the gay community and more and more people will suffer and die from DU poisoning. This stuff doesn''t go away. It remains in the environment forever basically. 4.3 billion years is the estimate. It can''t be burned, so cremation is no solution. And burial with the thought water can infiltrate coffins and seep into the ground water, is really no solution to this horrific mess Bush has given us in the world. I believe bringing the troops back to the US is a Terrorist Act.

[bluestardad]

ANOTHER BUSH BOBBLE HEAD APPOINTEE!

STANDING IN THE DARK TELLING EVERYONE IT IS DAYLIGHT!

[juwboy]

pro-america says:

"I am christian so know what I can''t wait till you are burning in hell with the devil you heathen jerk".

I''m puzzled. So many "Christians" have told me that, unlike Judaism, Christianity is a religion of love and forgiveness, whereas Judaism is based on vengeance.

pro-america, since you clearly believe in the doctrine of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth", you cannot be a Christian.

There''s no doubt about it. Obviously, you are a lying Jew.

:-):-):-)

[iceman_1960]

"screen_name_" is trying to shut down all dissent against this war in these Comments sections by posting the following idiotic message over and over again.

"VICTORY IS AMERICAS ONLY CHOICE

THANK YOU GENERAL"

Please hit that "+report abuse" button under his name in his posts, and report this sucker. It only takes a second.

Debate is one thing. Internet vandalism is another. It''s a felony.

Help shut him down.

[iceman_1960]

"FYI If it was up to me I would rather kill all the liberals in America then one American soldier."
- Posted by pro-america at 02:02 AM : Sep 15, 2007

This pro-Nazi criminal is a good example of why the GOP is going to get its a*ss kicked in the 2008 elections.

FYI, death threats on the Internet will get you 20-40 years in prison.

[tbweb]

Pretty obvious that Gates has some integrity whereas Cheney and Bush do not.

Posted by Nearl4511 at 10:22 PM : Sep 14, 2007,,,

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is one of those rare birds who knows how to serve the President without being a kiss.a.s.s. and at the same time maintaining his personal credibility and integrity. It''s called "sir, there is a point I won''t go beyond" and people who serve the President should establish that up front or get "used" like Colin Powell, but in fairness to Powell that''s what good soldiers do, follow orders to the letter, but in the end Powell forget he wasn''t a soldier anymore and had moved on.

[olddog200]

"...as FEW as 100,000 troops..."???

Nice headline CBSNews.com.

Maybe if you and W continue to work together on this, you can convince as "MANY" as 2 people that he has any intention of pulling his head out of his "mess."

[pro-america]

seven pesos:

Ok we are losing, but know what America is going to the dogs because of you stupid liberal athietic scumbuckets! I am christian so know what I can''t wait till you are burning in hell with the devil you heathen jerk.


We should start a civil war and kill everyone of you stupid hypocritical liberal evolutionist!! And I am sad for what you done to my country you traitors.

I will see you all in hell.

Sionara you traitors.

[pro-america]

seven pesos:

Ok we are losing, but know what America is going to the dogs because of you stupid liberal athietic scumbuckets! I am christian so know what I can''t wait till you are burning in hell with the devil you heathen jerk.


We should start a civil war and kill everyone of you stupid hypocritical liberal evolutionist!! And I am sad for what you done to my country you traitors.

I will see you all in hell.

Sionara you traitors.

[usayesterday]

One of my all time favorite protest signs ever: (reads like a headline):


"DUI PRESIDENT DRIVES COUNTRY INTO DITCH... STARTS WAR TO COVER UP."

[radiob-2009]

Watching the progress in Iraq is equivalent to watching a caterpillar cross the highway. Slow and with few chances of surviving.

[smirk5]

I hope it rains little caramel-candied green apples from the sky. What''s that worth?

[seven-pesos]

family values hypocrite, craig, loses the republican party 15 million votes.

foley loses another 11 million.

vitter loses another 8 million.

cunningham loses another 16 million.

libby, another 3 million.

robertson, falwell & swaggart, 6 million.

delay, 21 million.

abramoff, 9 million

bush, 32 million.

okay, let''s see here...

net total = republicans lose everything.

ha,ha,ha.

what a bunch of creeps those republican christian snakes are.

[j-whitman]

Then we have Bush who says the troops can start coming home ---- Wouldn''''t be funny if they all bought thier own tickets & left ???