WASHINGTON (AFX) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, seeking to reassure a worried US public that Washington had an exit strategy in Iraq, said Sunday a 'significant' drawdown of US troops is 'entirely probable' within a year.
Speaking on NBC television's 'Meet the Press' program, Rice sought to balance concern generated by President George W. Bush's comments last week that US forces would remain in Iraq after his term ends in Jan 2009.
'I think it's entirely probable that we will see a significant drawdown of American forces over the next year,' she said, citing the assessment of the US commander, General George Casey. 'It's all dependent on events on the ground.'
Although the US administration refuses to set a timetable for the withdrawal of the 133,000 US troops in Iraq, Pentagon officials have expressed hope they could cut the force level to 100,000 by the of 2006.
Domestic support for the Iraq war has steadily eroded with polls showing two-thirds of Americans disapproving of Bush's policies that are likely to become a central issue in congressional elections in November.
But asked at a news conference Tuesday whether all US military personnel in Iraq would someday come home, Bush raised more eyebrows by saying, 'That will be decided by future presidents and future governments of Iraq.'
The White House sought to play down his remarks, saying they referred to the pullout of the very last troops from Iraq, where more than 2,300 Americans have been killed since the March 2003 invasion. newsdesk@afxnews.com afp/hjp COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2005. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News. AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited