Gates: Pause in troop reductions likely

[unhappycamper]

Gates: Pause in troop reductions likely
By Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Saying the situation in Iraq remains “fragile” despite recent security gains, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Monday that there would likely be a pause in troop reductions after “surge” troops leave this summer.

After a meeting with Gen. David Petraeus, U.S. commander in Iraq, Gates told reporters that “a brief period of consolidation and evaluation probably does make sense.”

In the comments, made at Forward Operating Base Falcon in southern Baghdad, Gates said, “One of the keys is, how long is that period and then what happens after that.”

It was the first time Gates has publicly endorsed the idea that — once the five “surge” brigades leave Iraq this summer — no further cuts in U.S. troops would be likely this year. Once those five brigades leave, there will still be 15 U.S. brigades in Iraq, and the total number of troops would likely be more than before the “surge.”

There are currently around 150,000 U.S. troops in Iraq; by late summer, there will likely be around 130,000.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52394