US aims to sharply cut Iraq force within a year

US aims to sharply cut Iraq force within a year

By Peter Graff

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United States hopes to sharply reduce its forces in
Iraq by the middle of next year if all goes according to plan, its top
commander on the ground said on Wednesday.

But underscoring the challenges faced by the new Iraqi government, al Qaeda
in Iraq said it had killed two Algerian envoys kidnapped last week in a
spate of attacks that are driving diplomats out of Baghdad.

At a briefing with visiting Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, General
George Casey said he expected troop cuts after a referendum on a new
constitution due in October and an election for a new leader in December.

"I do believe that if the political process continues to go positively, if
the developments with the (Iraqi) security forces continue to go as it is
going, I do believe we will still be able to make fairly substantial
reductions after these elections -- in the spring and summer of next year,"
he said.

It appeared to be the first time since the insurgency worsened in April that
top Pentagon officials have suggested a timeline for withdrawal.

Casey's remarks came as a new poll showed most Americans think the United
States will lose the war in Iraq.

Early this year Casey made a similar prediction, but U.S. officials have
avoided suggesting a timetable since violence worsened sharply after the new
government took power in April.

Hours later a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance to a Baghdad
hospital, killing at least five people and wounding 10, police sources said.

Although many Iraqis resent the presence of U.S. troops, they fear an
escalation in suicide bombings, shootings and kidnappings, and possibly
civil war, if the Americans pull out before Iraqi forces can stand up to the
Sunni-led insurgency.

Algeria confirmed on Wednesday that its two envoys were dead, after a
statement posted on a Web site often used by the group led by Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi said they had been killed.

"The hostage-takers have cowardly assassinated our two representatives in
Baghdad, Ali Belaroussi and Azzedine Belkadi, thus carrying out their
despicable threats despite all the appeals..." President Abdelaziz
Bouteflika's office said.

The authenticity of the statement from al Qaeda in Iraq claiming
responsibility could not be verified and it was not accompanied by a video.
Earlier this month, the group said it had kidnapped and killed Egyptian
mission chief Ihab el-Sherif.

AMERICANS DUBIOUS ON WAR

President Bush said in a primetime speech last month he would withdraw
American forces as soon as Iraqis were prepared to take over responsibility
for security. But he said it would be dangerous to announce a timetable.

A British government memo leaked this month said Washington had a plan to
cut the foreign presence in Iraq from more than 170,000 troops to just
66,000 by mid 2006. London confirmed the memo was genuine but said it
reflected only one possible plan.

During a joint news conference with Rumsfeld, Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim
Jaafari repeated Iraqi assertions that the Americans should start to leave
as soon as Iraqis are ready. But he said no one wanted to see a surprise
pullout.

A USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll published in USA Today said 32 percent of
respondents believed the United States could not win the war in Iraq.
Another 21 percent said it was possible the United States could win but they
did not believe it would.

Just 43 percent said they were confident of victory.

The poll was the first to report a majority of Americans -- 51 percent --
believed the government deliberately misled the public about the presence of
banned weapons in Iraq. Still, most believed it was right to go to war to
topple Saddam Hussein.

Rumsfeld, making his tenth trip to Iraq since the war began, urged Iraqis to
finish drafting their constitution by an Aug. 15 deadline. "We don't want
any delays," Rumsfeld told reporters. "Now's the time to get on with it."

The committee drafting the constitution resumed work on Tuesday after Sunni
Arabs -- the 20 percent minority community -- ended a six-day boycott that
began when one of their committee members was gunned down last week.

The committee's chairman, Humam Hamoudi, said on Wednesday committee members
would meet on Aug. 1 to decide whether to ask for a six-month extension.
This would push back the entire process by six months, meaning elections
currently pencilled in for the end of the year would not happen until
mid-2006.

That would be a severe blow to Washington, which is keen to keep Iraq to a
tight schedule in its transition to democracy.

Violence in Iraq continued on Wednesday unabated. Three Iraqis were killed
and 37 injured when a mortar round fell on Baghdad's main Allawi bus
station.

Iraq's defense ministry said seven of its soldiers had died in an attack by
gunmen on Tuesday at a water purification station north of Baghdad. The U.S.
army said four American soldiers were killed over the weekend by a roadside
bomb.

South of Baghdad, Iraqi police commandos claimed a success, capturing an
Egyptian allied to Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda's number two, during a raid.
They said the detainee, Hamdi Tantawi, was responsible for funding attacks
in the area.

Casey said the level of attacks mounted by insurgents had not increased
substantially over the past year. "I wouldn't say it's necessarily a
stalemate," he said. "Insurgencies need to progress to survive. And this
insurgency is not progressing." (Additional reporting by Sami Jumaili in
Kerbala and Mussab al-Khairalla, Waleed Ibrahim, Michael Georgy and Luke
Baker in Baghdad

US aims to sharply cut Iraq force within a year

"I do believe that if the political process continues to go positively, if
the developments with the (Iraqi) security forces continue to go as it is
going,