- America is examining how to pull its troops out of Iraq,
Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, signalled last night, saying
there was no need to wait for peace to begin a withdrawal.
-
- "Any implication that that place has to be peaceful
and perfect before we can reduce coalition and US forces would obviously
be, I think, unwise because it has never been peaceful and perfect, and
it isn't likely to be," he said.
-
- Mr Rumsfeld gave no timetable for a possible withdrawal
but his remarks reflected a growing consensus in administration circles
that America is looking for an exit strategy.
-
- Britain is believed to have argued that America cannot
"cut and run" but that it might be a mistake to launch an all-out
offensive on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, as some Washington hawks
have proposed.
-
- But privately officials say that the administration is
expecting to step up its training of Iraqi forces, to take over the Americans'
duties, before starting a "decorous" withdrawal probably in about
two years.
-
- Troop numbers are expected to increase slightly at the
end of the year as other units are being relieved, and publicly the administration
insists that it will "stay the course."
-
- Mr Rumsfeld was speaking in Washington a day after he
said the Iraqi elections scheduled for January might not be able to take
place in every part of the country.
-
- After meeting Iyad Allawi, Iraq's interim prime minister,
Mr Rumsfeld said it was America's goal "to invest the time and the
money and the effort to help them train up Iraqis to take over those [security]
responsibilities."
-
- Senator John Kerry, Mr Bush's Democratic challenger in
the presidential election, seized on Mr Rumsfeld's remarks about the Iraqi
polls to fuel his argument that the war has been a disaster and a dangerous
distraction from the fight against terrorism.
-
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