U.S. confident troop cuts won't hurt Iraq security
224306
Cuts in U.S. troop levels in Iraq will not derail recent security gains, but the Iraqi government must move quicker to take advantage of the falls in violence, a senior U.S. general said on Sunday.
405449
The Bush administration said Wednesday that Britain's decision to withdraw 1,600 troops from Iraq is a positive sign that fits with the overall strategy for stabilizing the country.
12171
President George W. Bush on Thursday ordered gradual troop reductions in Iraq but defied calls for a dramatic change of course, telling war-weary Americans the U.S. military role there will stretch beyond his presidency.
38167
President George W. Bush is expected to endorse plans on Thursday for limited cuts in U.S. troop levels in Iraq but will offer little else to skeptical Americans looking for a change of course in the unpopular war.
458620
Defense officials are not ruling out the possibility that they will need more U.S. troops to secure January's elections in increasingly violent Iraq, but believe Iraqi and perhaps international troops may be able to do the job instead, a top general said Wednesday.
460597
A U.S. troop reduction in northern Iraq could begin as early as January 2008 and would cut in half the U.S. military presence in the region over the following 18 months, the top U.S. commander for the area said today.
144844
AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq  - President George W. Bush said on Monday his top officials in Iraq had told him the present level of security could be maintained with fewer forces if what he called current successes continued.
686548
The U.S. military commander in Iraq said on Thursday he currently saw no immediate need to request more U.S. troops other than those already announced, but they would need to stay "well beyond the summer".
207561
President Bush's senior advisers on Iraq have recommended he stand by his current war strategy, and he is unlikely to order more than a symbolic cut in troops before the end of the year, administration officials told The Associated Press Tuesday.
423062
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki shrugged off U.S. doubts of his government's military and political progress on Saturday, saying Iraqi forces are capable and American troops can leave "any time they want."
714293
The United States may be able to reduce its troop levels in Iraq after this country's January elections if security improves and local forces continue to expand and become more effective, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld says.
48239
The United States does not have to  wait until Iraq "is peaceful and perfect" before it begins to  withdraw military troops from that troubled country, Defense  Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Friday.
459075
One day after President Bush announced a limited drawdown of U.S. troops from Iraq by next summer, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said yesterday that it might be possible to reduce U.S. forces there further over the course of next year, down to approximately 100,000 troops by the end of 2008.
96598
The next three to four months will be vital to determine if violence in Iraq can be cut further and security maintained with fewer American troops, the number two U.S. military commander in Iraq said on Tuesday.
676070
Facing another decision about U.S. troop levels in Iraq by spring, President Bush said Saturday it's "fine with me" if generals recommend no more reductions than those already planned to take the force posture down to about 130,000.
370677
The United States does not intend to strike Iran to force it to stop supplying Shi'ite groups with weapons technology to kill U.S. troops in Iraq, a senior U.S. official said.
593725
U.S. troops could start leaving Iraq by the end of this year if the plan to suppress sectarian violence in Baghdad is successful, the defense secretary said.