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Troop cuts possible in fall, Petraeus says

More U.S. troop reductions in Iraq — possibly an entire brigade combat team — are likely to be recommended this fall, the general nominated to lead all U.S. forces in the Middle East said Thursday.

Army Gen. David Petraeus also told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the past week registered the lowest levels of violence in Iraq in the past four years and that he expects military control of two Iraqi provinces to be turned over to Iraqi security forces over the next several months.

Anbar province, once among Iraq’s most violent, should make the transition next month, he said.

The occasion was an unusual dual nomination hearing by the committee for Petraeus and Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno to take two of the top combat leadership jobs in the Middle East — Petraeus as the new U.S. Central Command chief, and Odierno as Petraeus’ replacement as commander of Multi-National Force-Iraq.

If confirmed, the two would likely change jobs in September, and Odierno would receive his fourth star.

In their testimony, both men expressed best wishes for the recovery of committee member Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who was diagnosed this week with a cancerous brain tumor and is back home in Cape Cod.

The current drawdown of five brigade combat teams will, by July, leave a force of 140,000 in Iraq. Petraeus had previously testified that he would then spend 45 days evaluating the security situation under that U.S. force level, followed by a period of undetermined length to further assess matters, before making any further recommendations.

Committee chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., asked Petraeus if he would make a recommendation prior to assuming his new post as CentCom chief.

Petraeus said he would be making some assessments during the 45-day period and that he would, if satisfied with conditions, make some recommendations at that time.

“My sense is that I will be able to make a recommendation at that time for some further reductions,” Petraeus added. “I don’t want to imply that that means a BCT or major combat formation, although it could. But I do believe that there will be certain assets that, as we are already looking at the picture right now, we’ll be able to recommend can be either redeployed or not deployed to the theater in the fall.”

“Well, that, I think, is good news to most of us,” Levin said.

The hearing was briefly interrupted by protests by the anti-war group Code Pink. One member shouted down Petraeus as he answered a Levin question about Iran. As that protester was escorted out, another began shouting, then another, in what appeared to be an orchestrated fashion. Levin calmly had the protesters removed.

Levin also paused the hearing momentarily for a voice vote approving 144 pending military nominations, including those of Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal as director of operations for the Joint Staff, and of Rear Adm. William McRaven to take McChrystal’s place at the head of the Joint Special Operations Command.

McRaven, who will receive a third star, will be the first SEAL to lead that command.

McChrystal’s nomination was clouded somewhat by his role in the investigation into the April 2004 death of former NFL star and Army Ranger Pat Tillman in Afghanistan.

A Pentagon investigation recommended that he and eight other Army officers be held accountable for errors in the way their superiors were informed about the cause of Tillman’s death — initially labeled as enemy fire but subsequently determined to have come from U.S. forces. The Army cleared McChrystal of any wrongdoing.

If all had gone according to plan, the hearing would never have taken place. But on March 11, just 12 months into the job, Adm. William Fallon abruptly announced his resignation as CentCom chief after publication of a magazine article implying that Fallon disagreed with administration policy in the Middle East, particularly regarding Iran.

That move forced the Pentagon to quickly shift gears; at that point, Odierno had been nominated to become the new Army vice chief of staff.