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September 19, 2006
U.S. Commander Sees No Troop Cuts in Iraq This Year
By DAVID S. CLOUD
WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 — The top American commander in the Middle East said the more than 140,000 soldiers now in Iraq are likely to be needed there at least until next spring because of continuing sectarian violence and the effort to secure Baghdad.
“I think that this level probably will have to be sustained through next spring, and then we’ll re-evaluate,” General John P. Abizaid told reporters at a breakfast roundtable.
American commanders have said previously that they expected current troop levels to be maintained through the end of the year unless security improved, but General Abizaid’s comments were the first indication that commanders believe reductions are unlikely until well into next year.
The surge in violence over the last six months, especially in Baghdad, has forced American commanders to increase troop levels by around 20,000 since last June and scrap plans made by General George W. Casey Jr., the senior American commander in Iraq, to reduce the number of combat brigades to 12 by this month.
“If you had asked me six months ago, I would have said that we would be down a couple of brigades from what we currently have,” General Abizaid said.
The situation in Baghdad, where thousands of American and Iraqi troops have been moved since July, has become “slightly better,” he said but added, “Baghdad is not going to clarify itself in my mind militarily for a couple months.”
“We’ll bring in more forces if we have to,” he said. “By the way, if we can send more forces out, we’ll do that as well.”
The troop levels in Iraq are the highest since force levels were increased to provide security for last January’s elections in Iraq.
General Abizaid said the insurgency still raging in Iraq represented less of a threat than the cycle of sectarian attacks by Shia and Sunnis, which, if unaddressed by military, economic and political means, could tear the country apart.
“The insurgency can’t be fatal to Iraq in my mind, but I do believe that the sectarian tension if left unchecked could be fatal to Iraq, and the center of the problem is Baghdad,” he said.
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld extended the one-year deployment of an Alaska-based brigade in July, as part of the effort to stem the escalating violence in Baghdad. General Abizaid said there are no plans to further extend the deployment of the Alaska Stryker brigade, which would be replaced by other units due to rotate into Iraq.
Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company
U.S. Commander Sees No Troop Cuts in Iraq This Year
By DAVID S. CLOUD
WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 — The top American commander in the Middle East said the more than 140,000 soldiers now in Iraq are likely to be needed there at least until next spring because of continuing sectarian violence and the effort to secure Baghdad.
“I think that this level probably will have to be sustained through next spring, and then we’ll re-evaluate,” General John P. Abizaid told reporters at a breakfast roundtable.
American commanders have said previously that they expected current troop levels to be maintained through the end of the year unless security improved, but General Abizaid’s comments were the first indication that commanders believe reductions are unlikely until well into next year.
The surge in violence over the last six months, especially in Baghdad, has forced American commanders to increase troop levels by around 20,000 since last June and scrap plans made by General George W. Casey Jr., the senior American commander in Iraq, to reduce the number of combat brigades to 12 by this month.
“If you had asked me six months ago, I would have said that we would be down a couple of brigades from what we currently have,” General Abizaid said.
The situation in Baghdad, where thousands of American and Iraqi troops have been moved since July, has become “slightly better,” he said but added, “Baghdad is not going to clarify itself in my mind militarily for a couple months.”
“We’ll bring in more forces if we have to,” he said. “By the way, if we can send more forces out, we’ll do that as well.”
The troop levels in Iraq are the highest since force levels were increased to provide security for last January’s elections in Iraq.
General Abizaid said the insurgency still raging in Iraq represented less of a threat than the cycle of sectarian attacks by Shia and Sunnis, which, if unaddressed by military, economic and political means, could tear the country apart.
“The insurgency can’t be fatal to Iraq in my mind, but I do believe that the sectarian tension if left unchecked could be fatal to Iraq, and the center of the problem is Baghdad,” he said.
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld extended the one-year deployment of an Alaska-based brigade in July, as part of the effort to stem the escalating violence in Baghdad. General Abizaid said there are no plans to further extend the deployment of the Alaska Stryker brigade, which would be replaced by other units due to rotate into Iraq.
Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company