Weeks before last Baghdad brigade ready: U.S. general
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The final extra U.S. brigade in a security crackdown to prevent all-out civil war in Iraq is unlikely to be fully operational for up to two months, the U.S. military's top spokesman in Iraq said on Wednesday.
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The top U.S. commander in Iraq expressed optimism Wednesday that Iraqi forces are making enough progress to provide their own security within 18 months. But violence showed no sign of abating, with 66 people killed nationwide, including 24 in a Baghdad market bombing.
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U.S. or Iraqi forces control more than half of Baghdad's neighborhoods while the rest still experience high levels of fighting and sectarian violence, the U.S. commander in Iraq's capital said on Friday.
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The top American general in Iraq said   on Wednesday he foresaw Iraq assuming control of its own   security within 12 to 18 months with "very little" support from   U.S.-led forces.
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U.S. forces said on Friday they could hand over security in the vast Western province of Anbar to Iraqi forces as soon as March or April, after a remarkable turnaround of security in the one-time insurgent stronghold.
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Iraq's army and police could be ready to take over security in all 18 provinces by the end of this year as the U.S. military moves toward a less prominent role in the country, U.S. officials said on Thursday.
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The top U.S. commander in Iraq on Monday predicted a "major confrontation" on the streets of Fallujah as a U.S.-led force of as many as 15,000 troops pressed to retake control of the Sunni Muslim city.
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The new U.S. military commander in Iraq said on Saturday that American and Iraqi security forces had to stabilize the country in what he called a high-stakes battle, or it would be doomed to more violence.
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SEOUL The much-delayed deployment of South Korea&#39;s brigade to Iraq has gone ahead, the Defense Ministry announced Wednesday in a move that is expected to improve ties with the United States.
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Army Gen. John P. Abizaid raised the possibility that forces in Iraq could start to be reshaped as early as next year to reduce the number of combat troops and concentrate on the development of Iraqi security forces.
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A U.S. general warned Friday that insurgents may be planning "spectacular" attacks to scare voters in the three weeks before Iraq's landmark elections, and Shiite and Sunni religious leaders voiced sharply divergent views on whether the vote should be held at all.
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The United States will station three new brigades in Germany at the same time as it withdraws about 30,000 troops from the country, a top U.S. general said on Thursday. General Charles Wald, deputy commander of United States European Command, told a news conference America planned to station a Stryker armored vehicle brigade with 3,600 soldiers, a paratroop brigade and an expeditionary brigade in Germany.
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By July, the number of U.S. troops in Iraq should be down to about 130,000, according to the U.S. commander in Baghdad, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus -- about the same number as before President Bush sent additional combat forces there last spring.
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Iraqi insurgents have reduced the level  of violence in recent days, but may be planning a "more  spectacular" attack just before or during Sunday's elections, a  U.S. general said on Monday.
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The top U.S. commander in Iraq on Monday said the number of U.S. troops in Iraq could be cut by next summer to roughly 130,000, its level before this year's "surge" of 30,000 forces, without jeopardizing security improvements.
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U.S. military commanders said Friday the troop buildup in Iraq must be maintained until at least next summer and they may need as long as two years to assure parts of the country are stable.
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Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visits Baghdad, says troop levels must stay high until things improve. BAGHDAD, Iraq - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told Marines in Iraq on Sunday that he expects more