Gates: U.S. could start to consider troop reduction this year 'if we see some very positive progress'

An Iraqi teen turns over the keys to the family vehicle so that it can be searched in Ameriyah on April 24

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday the United States could consider reducing troop levels in Iraq later this year, contradicting comments by a senior military commander...

"I think if we see some very positive progress and it looks like things are headed in the right direction, then that's the point at which I think we can begin to consider reducing some of these forces," Gates said.

Gates said the question for the September review would not be whether violence had stopped completely but whether it had declined enough for Iraqis to move ahead with reconciliation.

Read the rest at the Washington Post

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