Partial Iraq pullout on track as security improves: Gates

IRAQ WARS

by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Dec 21, 2007
The situation in Iraq is improving and should allow the first five units of US troops to leave by July with some going as early as this month, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday.

"The situation on the ground, I think, makes it likely that General (David) Petraeus will be able to decide to bring out the first five teams by July," Gates told an end of year press conference.

"The first of those is coming out this month. My hope has been that the circumstances on the ground will continue to improve," he added.

He said he hoped the improving security in Iraq would allow "drawdowns at roughly the same pace as the first half of the year" but that it would depend on the situation on the ground.

If the withdrawals continue at the same pace then by the end of the administration of President George W. Bush in January 2009 some 10 brigades will have left Iraq, he said.

There are currently about 160,000 US troops in Iraq fighting an insurgency launched in the wake of the March 2003 US-led invasion.

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IRAQ WARS

Progress in Iraq security, but reconciliation still elusive: Pentagon

Washington (AFP) Dec 18, 2007
US forces have achieved "significant security progress" in Iraq over the past three months, though national reconciliation -- key for an eventual US withdrawal -- remains elusive, a Pentagon report out Tuesday said.

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