U.S. may cut troops in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq – With the death of militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the United States will seek to press its advantage against al-Qaida in Iraq even as it likely will draw down U.S. forces in the months to come, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said Sunday.

Gen. George W. Casey’s comments on televised public-affairs shows underscored an inherent tension in the military’s position. The United States suddenly finds itself with a chance to build on its military blow against al-Qaida in Iraq at the same time it could take advantage of the political stability offered by Iraq’s new government to reduce the U.S. presence.

“As long as the Iraqi security forces continue to progress and as long as this national-unity government continues to operate that way and move the country forward, I think we are going to be able to see … gradual reductions of coalition forces,” Casey told CBS’ “Face the Nation” in an interview from Baghdad.

For months, the Pentagon has suggested that Casey would be in a position this spring to recommend further cuts in the U.S. troop deployment, reductions that began last December when orders for two brigades were canceled. But the long wrangling over who would become Iraq’s prime minister and who would fill the posts of defense and interior minister, along with continued violence in Iraq, forced Casey and Pentagon officials to put off decisions about whether to hold back additional brigades.

With the top Iraqi jobs now filled, the White House will begin its long-awaited discussions on the way forward in Iraq at a meeting today of President Bush’s war cabinet at Camp David. This week’s meetings are likely to include talk about the size of the U.S. force. The United States has about 130,000 troops in Iraq, down from a peak of 160,000 in December.

The death of al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, in a U.S. airstrike Wednesday threw a wrinkle into the plans of U.S. commanders, who see an opening to act on intelligence acquired in raids that followed the attack.

“We’re trying to take advantage of the opportunity that is presented here by leadership turbulence,” Casey said on CBS. “Any time you change a leader in an organization, it’s a period of turbulence. It’s especially critical in war.”

Al-Qaida in Iraq on Sunday announced that it is plotting more bloodshed. The insurgent organization’s governing council had met to discuss strategy and the group said in an Internet statement: “We plan large-scale operations that will shake the enemy and rob them of sleep.”

Asked about the threat, Casey observed that in the past the organization tended to sharpen its rhetoric when it was “hurting.” Still, he acknowledged that the network was still capable of carrying out attacks and said U.S. forces were taking such threats seriously.

Speaking earlier on “Fox News Sunday,” Casey said there would be enhanced security operations in Baghdad and the United States would continue its offensive against al-Qaida that it began after killing al-Zarqawi.

“We have had a steady drumbeat of operations against the al-Qaida network here in Iraq since the Zarqawi operation,” he said.

Pushing a major U.S. offensive against al-Qaida and the broader insurgency in Iraq would not necessarily require additional troops. But sharply reducing U.S. forces in the next few months would seem to preclude stepped-up operations.

Pressed by Chris Wallace, the Fox host, Casey acknowledged that he could request more troops from the president. But he called such a move “not likely.”

Casey is due to participate in the Camp David talks by video linkup. He would not say Sunday what he would recommend to Bush. Still, when questioned by CBS’s Bob Schieffer about troop reductions, Casey predicted that the U.S. presence would shrink.

Iraq’s national security adviser, Mowaffak Rubaie, appearing on CNN’s “Late Edition,” predicted his country’s security forces would be strong enough by the end of the year to allow the multinational force to be cut to less than 100,000. “And by the end of next year, most of the multinational forces will have gone home,” he said.

The most significant violence in Iraq on Sunday was between Shiite militia and British forces in the southern Iraqi city of Amarah, a fight that left at least five civilians dead. Elsewhere in Iraq at least eight other people were killed in bombings and shootings.