First phase of major Iraq campaign almost over: U.S.
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BAQUBA, Iraq  - U.S. forces believe the initial combat phase of a major offensive to clear al Qaeda from the Iraqi city of Baquba is nearly complete and any militants left could be confronted in the next 24 hours.
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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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The United States will maintain its   enlarged force in Iraq at current levels until at least mid   -2007, the top U.S. general in the Middle East said on Tuesday,   as Washington scrambles to prevent all-out sectarian war.
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Iraq is a nation gripped by fear and struggling to meet security and political goals by September, U.S. officials said Thursday from Baghdad, dashing hopes in Congress that the country might turn a corner this summer. One general said not to expect a solid judgment on the U.S. troop buildup until November.
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The number of U.S. troops in Iraq could fall to about 130,000 by next summer, the total before this year's build-up, but it is too early to say when it may go lower, the top U.S. general in Iraq said on Monday.
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Campaigning for the first post-Saddam Hussein elections got under way amid more bloodshed, as US President George W. Bush warned Iran and Syria to stop meddling in Iraq in the runup to the vote.
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MARK COLVIN: Iraq&#39;s election campaign is officially underway and already it&#39;s been hit by violence and fears that minority Sunnis will boycott next month&#39;s poll.
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Iraqi leaders warned on Monday that an early U.S. troop withdrawal could tip Iraq into all-out civil war after the New York Times said debate was growing in the White House over a gradual scaling-down of forces.
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Iraq looms as the first major problem for whoever wins the November 2 US presidential election, with the US-led international coalition appearing increasingly shaky.
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CAIRO, 16 November 2004 - The US military announcement that major combat was over in Fallujah echoed the words of US President George W. Bush in May last year when he declared the official end of the war on Iraq.
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The U.S. military death toll in Iraq has reached 1,000 nearly 18 months after the invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, making its mark on the U.S. presidential election campaign.
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Iraqâs second-largest city is now without foreign forces for the first time since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
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The debate in Washington over troop numbers is intense. But in Baghdad, there's been little sense of alarm or urgency among the Iraqi politicians who would have the most to lose if the United States decides to begin a major pull back.
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The U.S. military death toll in Iraq  is approaching 1,000, with the danger faced by American troops  undiminished in the two months since the formation of an  interim government.
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A pause in the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq after the current reduction is completed in July "makes sense," Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters in Baghdad today. Gates made his comments after meeting in Iraq with the top U.S. commander, Gen. David Petraeus.
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Administration officials say the Iraqi elections at the end of the month will be less than perfect, but nonetheless will pave the way for a drawdown of U.S. troops.
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BAGHDAD, Iraq - A spate of attacks, including a suicide car bombing, pushed the number of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq campaign past 1,000, with the majority inflicted by an insurgency that grew after President Bush declared major combat over...