White House ties troop levels to Iraqi elections
A senior official says withdrawals must stop this summer to ensure security at the polls. Doubts are also cast on Army plans to shorten combat tours.
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration believes a halt in troop reductions in Iraq after July is needed in part to ensure a large enough force is present to provide security for local elections, a senior administration official said Friday.
By tying troop levels to Iraq's provincial elections, officials in effect established a new milestone to guide U.S. policy during President Bush's last months in office. And by linking them to the elections, the administration is increasing pressure on the Iraqis to actually hold the balloting.
Iraq's presidency council, consisting of three top officials, vetoed legislation this week that set plans for the provincial elections, which the U.S. regards as one of the benchmarks of political progress in Iraq.
Under the current plan, troop reductions will take place as scheduled through July to remove the additional forces sent last year as part of a U.S. buildup, the senior administration official said. But once the extra forces are withdrawn and troop levels decline to about 140,000, no further reductions would occur until late in the year.
"You can actually increase your own risk if you pull out too many simultaneously," the official said, denying the move was intended to avert drastic changes in war policy until a new president takes office in January. "This is not a stall tactic. It's not an attempt to put off the inevitable until after Jan. 20."
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because no final decisions on troop levels will be made until Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, presents recommendations to President Bush next month. Those recommendations are expected to include his proposal to hold off on further reductions until at least September.
The official also cast doubt on Army plans to shorten combat tours from 15 months to 12 months after the current round of troop reductions is completed in July. Tours were extended to 15 months last year to support the U.S. buildup, but the extra time has added to strain on Army units.
An additional 21,500 combat troops and several thousand support troops were sent to Iraq last year in an effort to increase security.
A delay in further withdrawals could exacerbate tensions between U.S. commanders in Iraq, who want to preserve high troop numbers to preserve the gains they say they have made, and military leaders at the Pentagon, who want to ease the strain on the Army and Marines.
