Rumsfeld won't promise US troop cut in Iraq

WASHINGTON - Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said today he could not promise that the United States would withdraw some of its 133,000 troops from Iraq this year, although he hoped it would be able to do so.

Marine Corps General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he did not believe US troops could pull out of any of Iraq's provinces in the next three months and leave security duties to US-trained Iraqi security forces.

Rumsfeld and Pace, testifying before a Senate appropriations subcommittee, faced questions from senators about when the Pentagon planned to reduce the US military presence in Iraq more than 3 years into a war in which about 2,450 US troops have died.

Rumsfeld said Iraq, in the grips of a relentless insurgency, had "entered a hopeful new phase in what has been a long and difficult journey," with Shi'ite politician Nuri al-Maliki, the prime minister-designate, due in the coming days to unveil a new cabinet.

Democratic senators expressed doubt about progress in the war.

"We still don't have answers to the most basic questions about the war," said Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia. "How much more is this war going to cost? When is this mission really going to be accomplished? How much longer until our troops start coming home?"

Senator Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, asked Rumsfeld whether there will be "a significant troop withdrawal this year." "We ought to be able to make a reduction," Rumsfeld said, depending on progress in developing Iraqi security forces and public support among Iraqis for a new unity government.

After again being pressed on troop reductions by Illinois Democratic Senator Richard Durbin, Rumsfeld said, "I did not say it will not happen this year. I said I hoped it happens this year, but I can't promise it."

Questions about troop levels come during a congressional election year in which the US public's support for the war is dropping. Public concern over Iraq has also helped push President George W Bush's approval rating to the lowest of his presidency.

The Pentagon has said Rumsfeld expects to receive by the end of spring a recommendation from General George Casey, his top commander in Iraq, on possible troop cuts this year.

The Pentagon this month put off next month's scheduled deployment of a Germany-based Army brigade to Iraq pending Casey's recommendation. Casey said last month he was "still on my general timetable" for recommending cuts, but did not say how many troops or when.

Pace said Iraqi security forces number 254,000 people, with a goal of 325,000. Rumsfeld said, "They're making excellent progress."

But Leahy asked Pace if there was any significant section of Iraq that the Iraqis can control on their own without US involvement.

Pace responded that 14 of the 18 provinces are essentially calm. Leahy then asked whether US forces could withdraw completely from any of those 14 in the next three months.

"No, sir," Pace said. "There are still the logistics and command and control parts of their army that need to be built for them to be able to sustain themselves completely."

On another topic, Rumsfeld said he foresaw no circumstances under which he would recommend reinstating the draft after more than three decades of an all-volunteer US military.

After Rumsfeld completed his opening statement to the panel, a protester in the hearing room yelled out, "Liar," and flashed the two-finger peace sign while being led out by security.

- REUTERS