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Iraq progress remains 'fragile:' Petraeus
Washington (AFP) Dec 23, 2007 US commander General David Petraeus Sunday hailed "fragile" progress towards damping down sectarian bloodshed in Iraq but cautioned against a faster withdrawal of US forces. Insurgent attacks and casualties among US troops and Iraqi civilians have fallen sharply, he said, helping the United States to press ahead with plans to withdraw five combat units from Iraq next year. "Obviously, we want to reduce the strain on our ground forces as much as we can while recognizing that what has been achieved here remains tenuous and is still fragile in a number of areas," Petraeus said on Fox News Sunday. He stressed his agreement with Defense Secretary Robert Gates that planning for any further withdrawals would be "conditions-based," dependent on whether Iraqi violence continues to fall or not. The projected withdrawal of five units by July would bring the number of US troops in Iraq down to about 130,000, from 160,000 now. About 30,000 extra troops were sent in this year in a bid to quell the violence as part of a controversial "surge" strategy laid out by President George W. Bush and Petraeus. According to a Pentagon report released on Tuesday, the surge has been working, with US forces achieving "significant security progress" in Iraq over the past three months with the number of attacks down 62 percent. Afghanistan meanwhile has just gone through its bloodiest year since the US-led ousting of the Taliban in 2001, and Gates said Friday the country was still threatened by militants and drug-traffickers. Asked if he was being nudged by Washington to free up more troops from Iraq to redeploy to Afghanistan, Petraeus said: "We're not getting nudges." The US commander said he understood the "impatience" of critics in Washington who see little political progress in Iraq to match the military success. "In fact, it is shared by Iraqi leaders. I don't think you could ask any Iraqi leader about this and find one who would say that he or she is satisfied with the pace of their progress," Petraeus said. However, the general also noted that the 2008 budget was expected to share out Iraqi revenues including oil earnings "very equitably," among other measures towards reconciliation in the fractured country. Related Links Iraq: The first technology war of the 21st century
Partial Iraq pullout on track as security improves: Gates
Washington (AFP) Dec 21, 2007The 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. |
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