Bush agrees to new troop cuts in Iraq

President George Bush has authorised new cuts in US combat troops in Iraq, below the 138,000 level that prevailed for most of this year, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said today.

Addressing US troops at the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, Rumsfeld did not reveal the exact size of the troop cut, but Pentagon officials have said it could be as much as 7,000 combat troops.

Two army brigades that had been scheduled for combat tours – one from Fort Riley, Kansas, the other now in Kuwait – will no longer deploy to Iraq. That will reduce the number of combat brigades in Iraq from 17 to 15.

“The effect of these adjustments will reduce forces in Iraq by the spring of 2006 below the current high of 160,000 during the (Iraqi) election period to below the 138,000 baseline that had existed before the most recent elections,” Rumsfeld said.

Rumsfeld aides said details were to be provided later at the Pentagon.

Further reductions will be considered “at some point in 2006,” after the new Iraqi government is in place and is prepared to discuss the future US military presence, said Rumsfeld.

The Pentagon sent an extra 20,000 troops to Iraq to bolster security during the recent elections, and Rumsfeld has previously said those 20,000 would be withdrawn in January to return US force levels to a 138,000 baseline.

Today’s announcement marks the first time Rumsfeld has said troop levels would dip below that baseline.

Bush is under growing pressure from two fronts to pare back the American force in Iraq: the Republican-run Congress and a public increasingly disenchanted with the war and its growing casualties, which have surpassed 2,100 US war dead and 15,000 wounded.

Bush, Rumsfeld and other White House and military officials long have said that US troop reductions would occur as the Iraqis show signs of being able to take control of their country. As evidence of progress, these officials in recent weeks have pointed to growing numbers of Iraqi troops they say are capable of lead combat roles.

The American force peaked at 192,000 during the March 2003 invasion; the monthly low was 109,000 in January 2004.

Earlier in Baghdad, Rumsfeld, on an unannounced trip to Iraq, was asked by reporters whether he had decided to hold back the deployment of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division from Fort Riley, Kansas, and the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Armoured Division, now in Kuwait.

Rumsfeld would not answer directly, but then elaborated during his visit to Fallujah.

Upon his arrival in the Iraqi capital, Rumsfeld met with Gen. George Casey, the top US commander in Iraq, and Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador to Baghdad.

It was Rumsfeld’s 11th trip to Iraq since the war began.

For the first time since the insurgency took hold in Iraq in midsummer 2003, Rumsfeld was spending the night in the country. He previously had made Iraq day trips, but spent the night in other countries in the region.

The issue of troops reductions came up earlier during Rumsfeld’s visit to Afghanistan.

“Well, we’re not going to withdraw precipitously. We’re going to finish the important work that’s being done there,” he responded.

During Rumsfeld’s stop in Afghanistan, military officials said they were making good progress toward eliminating the Taliban resistance and al-Qaida terrorists who continue sporadical violence against US troops.

But some officers said the hostile forces were making some gains by acquiring more advanced weaponry, such as armour-piercing munitions, and improving their training and organisation.