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Rumsfeld: Troops in Iraq to be cut
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-23 21:15
Rumsfeld said two Army brigades that had been scheduled for combat tours ��
one from Fort Riley, Kan., the other now in Kuwait �� would no longer deploy to
Iraq. That would reduce the number of combat brigades in Iraq from 17 to 15.
"The effect of these adjustments will reduce forces in Iraq by the spring of
2006 below the current high of 160,000 during the (Iraqi) election period to
below the 138,000 baseline that had existed before the most recent elections,"
the defense secretary said.
Rumsfeld aides said details were to be provided later at the Pentagon.
Further reductions will be considered "at some point in 2006," after the new
Iraqi government is in place and is prepared to discuss the future U.S. military
presence, Rumsfeld added.
The Pentagon sent an extra 20,000 troops to Iraq to bolster security during
the recent elections, and Rumsfeld has previously said those 20,000 would be
withdrawn in January to return U.S. force levels to a 138,000 baseline.
Friday's announcement marks the first time Rumsfeld has said troop levels
will dip below that baseline.
Rumsfeld has said repeatedly that troop reductions
depend on political progress in Iraq and improvements in Iraq's own security
forces. Later, the defense secretary flew to Amman to visit a military training
center outside the Jordanian capital where a small number of Iraqis are trained
in commando skills.
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