US speeds up troop withdrawal from Iraq

WASHINGTON (Reuters/AFP) - The US military has accelerated the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and freed up resources for the Nato-led mission in Afghanistan, the US commander in Iraq told Congress on Wednesday.
Speeding the drawdown of forces in Iraq could help pave the way for sending additional troops to Afghanistan, where the top US commander has asked for tens of thousands of reinforcements.
General Ray Odierno, who leads the US military mission in Iraq, told a congressional hearing that the 124,000-strong US force would be reduced ahead of schedule to 120,000 by mid-October. He said the withdrawal could facilitate a US build-up in Afghanistan.
Thats a bit faster than we originally planned, Odierno told the House Armed Services Committee.
General Ray Odierno pointed to plans to withdraw some 4,000 troops from Iraq by the end of October as evidence of this flexibility on timing, saying thats a bit faster than we originally planned.
I work very carefully ... to identify any capabilities that we have and that we no longer need that can be used in Afghanistan, Odierno said.
Within our plan, I have flexibility to speed up (the pullout), if I think the situation on the ground allows it.
There are approximately 124,000 US troops in Iraq compared with about 66,000 in Afghanistan, where the top military commander wants US President Barack Obama to deploy more forces to turn around the flagging, 8-year-old war.
Obama, who is reviewing Afghan strategy in the face of rising casualties and souring public support for the conflict, plans to end the US combat mission in Iraq on Aug 31, 2010.
A force of 30,000 to 50,000 troops will remain to train and equip Iraqi forces and protect provincial reconstruction teams, international projects and diplomatic staff.
Odierno told lawmakers that Iraqs security was improving but said there were still some sources of potential conflict.
I call these drivers of instability, he said, listing among them national elections coming up in January, Arab-Kurd tensions and violent groups within Iraq.
He singled out Arab-Kurd tensions as the No 1 driver of instability inside of Iraq and cited long-standing disputes over land and resources.
Odierno said the first 60 days after Iraqs national election in January would be the most critical and could see some level of violence.
But he voiced confidence that post-election jostling over forming a new government - a process he said could take until June or July - would not throw off the US drawdown.
A peaceful transition as a new government is seated will allow the US to draw down to a level of 50,000 by the end of August, as planned, he said.
Odierno said the US remained concerned about Irans malign intent in Iraq, singling out its continued training of surrogate elements inside the country. He cited the recent discovery of large caches of Iranian-made rockets and explosives.