US: The United States may not need the number of troops it has in Iraq "all that much longer", US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said amid reports the Pentagon could pull back three combat brigades.
With political pressure building on President George Bush to shift course in Iraq, US officials are trying to reassure Americans that sufficient progress is being made in training Iraqi forces to possibly permit some US troops to leave.
"I suspect that American forces are not going to be needed in the numbers that they're there for all that much longer, because Iraqis are continuing to make progress in function, not just in numbers, but in their capabilities to do certain functions," Ms Rice told CNN on Tuesday.
Her comments came after a bitter debate on Capitol Hill about Mr Bush's Iraq policy, including a demand by Democratic representative John Murtha of Pennsylvania that US forces withdraw immediately.
The Washington Post said yesterday that barring any major surprises in Iraq, the Pentagon tentatively planned to cut the number of US forces there early next year by as many as three combat brigades, from 18 now, but to keep at least one brigade "on call" in Kuwait in case more troops were needed. A US army brigade has 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers.
Mr Bush is under pressure to change course in Iraq after the deaths of more than 2,000 Americans and an unending train of suicide bombings. White House officials, however, said he was not shifting his strategy and that any troop reductions would be based on conditions on the ground.
Lieut Gen John Vines, the second-ranked US commander in Iraq, told Pentagon reporters by phone on Tuesday that a "precipitous pull-out" would be "destabilising". - (Reuters)