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Gates Disputes Commander On Troop Pullout

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told American troops in Balad, Iraq that the United States is now in the "end game" in Iraq and moved to reassure troops that their contribution to stability there is of vital importance, just days after the U.S. announced it would boost its military presence in Afghanistan.

During an address to military personnel, Gates explained President-elect Barack Obama's vision for his proposed drawdown and said it represents a "significant change of mission."

Obama has pledged to pull combat forces from Iraq in 16 months. The new security agreement drawn up between the Iraqi government and the Bush administration calls for a withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraqi cities by the end of June 2009, and a complete pullout from the country by the end of 2011.

Gates estimated U.S. troops will be "out of cities and populated areas" by June 30.

"That's the point at which we will have turned over all 18 provinces to provincial Iraqi control," he said.

"We are, I believe, in terms of the American commitment, in the end game here in Iraq," said Gates.

However, the top U.S. Commander in Iraq, General Raymond Odierno, said on Saturday that some U.S. forces would remain at local security stations, as training and mentoring teams, despite the summer deadline to pull American combat troops from urban areas.

"We believe we should still be inside those after the summer," he said at the sprawling U.S. base in Balad, north of Baghdad before welcoming Secretary Gates.

Iraq's prime minister upbraided his own top government spokesman for saying some U.S. soldiers might need to remain in the country for many more years. "What was announced about the Iraqi forces needing 10 years in order to be ready is only his personal point of view and it doesn't represent the opinion of the Iraqi government," Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office said in a written statement Saturday.

The spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, told reporters in Washington this past week that the Baghdad government would be open to negotiations that would keep troops in Iraq past the agreed upon withdrawal date.

A New Timetable?

Odierno said he will make recommendations soon on how many troops the U.S. can withdraw from Iraq early next year. There are now about 149,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. That is more than 10,000 higher than before the buildup President George W. Bush ordered in early 2007.

Odierno looked ahead to a series of Iraqi elections, including provincial voting in January, and said, "It's important that we maintain enough presence here that we can help them get through this year of transition."

"We don't want to take a step backward because we've made so much progress here," he added.

Gates' stop in Iraq comes at a critical time. The U.S. is preparing for the troop reduction even as intermittent spikes in violence continue. An important question is whether the Iraqis are ready to take over security and will they be ready when U.S. troops withdraw from urban areas.

Odierno said that overall he believes the Iraqis will be prepared, but that there are a few trouble spots, including Mosul in the north. If the Iraqis believe they need more help in Mosul after June, he said, they can ask for assistance.

He would not say what the prospects are for the Marines to leave the western province of Anbar, where violence has plummeted. Marine leaders have said they want to leave Iraq and head into Afghanistan, where violence has escalated.

The urgent requests from commanders in Afghanistan for more troops has added to the tension to cut troops in Iraq. Military leaders have said repeatedly they cannot send the desired 20,000 or more forces to Afghanistan unless troop levels are reduced in Iraq.

Gates said, "It's highly unlikely that we will ever have a troop presence in Afghanistan anything like we have had in Iraq." He said that he would be "very concerned" with having a substantially bigger U.S. presence. "The Soviets were there with 120,000 troops and lost, because they didn't have the support of Afghan people, and at a certain point we get such a big footprint we begin to look like an occupier and not an ally or supporter of the Afghans."

Odierno acknowledged that the security improvements in Anbar will allow troop reductions there. He said he will adjust troop levels across Iraq in coming months based on need.

Before stopping in Iraq, Gates attended a meeting in Bahrain of Persian Gulf leaders, where he urged them to help fight the spread of violent extremism by funding and training Afghan security forces and reaching out more aggressively to the Iraq government.

Gates, who will continue as Pentagon chief under Obama, also warned terrorists that "anyone who thought that the upcoming months might present opportunities to 'test' the new administration would be sorely mistaken."

He said Obama and his national security team "will be ready to defend the interests of the United States and our friends and allies from the moment he takes office on Jan. 20."

In his speech, Gates took a more reserved tone on Iran when compared with his sharper criticism in remarks last year that Tehran was a chaotic and destabilizing threat.

The defense secretary and others have rebuked Iran for helping bolster militants who cross the border into Iraq. Officials long have believed that Iran has provided money and training to insurgents, and supported the delivery of lethal explosives to Iraq.

On Saturday, Gates pressed Gulf nations to penalize Iran, but added that they can be even more influential "by welcoming the new Iraq into the Arab fold."

Withholding support for the country, he said, increases the risk that Iraq will be overcome by Iranian influence that has already cost many lives.

Asked later about Iran, Gates said Tehran is meddling and attempting to destabilize the region, but said the U.S. is not working to change the government, just Iran's behavior.


Turkey Evacuates Iraqis Wounded In Suicide Attack

Turkish officials say a military plane has evacuated 14 Iraqis wounded in a suicide attack, for treatment in Turkish hospitals.

(AP Photo/Emad Matti)
Thursday's attack on a restaurant in Kirkuk, in northern Iraq, killed 55 people and wounded 93.

Turkey's Foreign Ministry says a military plane was dispatched Saturday to bring 14 of the wounded to hospitals in Ankara.

The target of the attack - the deadliest in Iraq in six months - appeared to be a meeting of Arab tribal leaders, Turkomen representatives and Kurdish officials on ways to defuse tension among Arabs, Kurds and Turkomen in the disputed area.

Turkey feels special responsibility toward its ethnic brethren, the Turkomen.

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