Military mulls whether Iraq troop cut possible

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030101490.html

Military mulls whether Iraq troop cut possible

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A spike in violence in Iraq that has heightened worries about civil war has the Pentagon discussing the wisdom of further cutting American forces there, defense officials said on Wednesday.

Bryan Whitman, a senior Pentagon spokesman, said Army Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, planned to make a recommendation this spring to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and President George W. Bush on future U.S. troop levels.

A defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. military commanders believed the U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces did "a tremendous job" containing a rash of sectarian violence triggered by last week's bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra.

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The official said there was concern over making troop cuts at a time when many experts were concerned Iraq was descending into a civil war.
"The glass half empty is: 'Oh my God, this is one crisis, what's the next one going to be? And is this the beginning of the meltdown?"' the official said, while noting that U.S. commanders did not believe such a meltdown was imminent.