Military mulls whether Iraq troop cut possible

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A spike in violence in Iraq that has
heightened worries about civil war has the Pentagon discussing
the wisdom of further cutting American forces there, defense
officials said on Wednesday.

Bryan Whitman, a senior Pentagon spokesman, said Army Gen.
George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, planned to make a
recommendation this spring to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
and President George W. Bush on future U.S. troop levels.

“Spring starts this month. And clearly the commanders will
be looking at that (future force levels) and whether or not
they’ll be recommending any force adjustments to the secretary
and the president,” Whitman said.

The United States has 133,000 troops in Iraq, the Pentagon
said, down from about 160,000 in December when they were
helping secure Iraq’s parliamentary elections. The Pentagon has
cut U.S. combat brigades to 15 from 17.

Defense officials previously have said the Pentagon was
looking at options for troop levels in Iraq in 2006 including
dropping down to about 100,000 if security and political
conditions permit, but with other options for smaller cuts or
none at all.

A defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity,
said U.S. military commanders believed the U.S.-trained Iraqi
security forces did “a tremendous job” containing a rash of
sectarian violence triggered by last week’s bombing of the
Golden Mosque in Samarra.

That bolsters confidence that the Iraqi forces are capable
of handling the load in the event the Pentagon cuts U.S. troop
levels, the official said. U.S. troops were poised as a
rapid-reaction force in the event Iraqi forces became
overwhelmed in the latest violence.

The official said there was concern over making troop cuts
at a time when many experts were concerned Iraq was descending
into a civil war.

“The glass half empty is: ‘Oh my God, this is one crisis,
what’s the next one going to be? And is this the beginning of
the meltdown?”‘ the official said, while noting that U.S.
commanders did not believe such a meltdown was imminent.

“There’s the optics of: Is this the right time to be able
to announce any decision that would send the message that we
intend to draw down our forces in the near term?” the official
said.