Washington - The top US commander in Iraq said Wednesday that the United States will cut the number of forces in Iraq by 4,000 by the end of October at a withdrawal pace faster than expected. General Ray Odierno told the House Armed Services Committee the reduction would leave about 120,000 troops remaining in Iraq and said it was possible the overall force will come down to 50,000 before the original August 2010 timeframe for removing combat troops.
Odierno attributed the pullouts to the much improved security environment in the country and the increasingly capable work of Iraqi security forces.
"We believe the Iraqi security forces will develop the capacity to conduct internal and basic external defense over the next two-and- one-half years as we continue to draw down our forces," Odierno said.
President Barack Obama has initiated a plan to end the US role in Iraq in order to shift focus to Afghanistan, where the conflict has rapidly deteriorated.
The top US commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, reportedly warned the president earlier this month that without a swift revamping of the approach to Afghanistan, NATO was at risk of losing.
Obama is weighing whether to add as many as 40,000 additional US forces in Afghanistan on top of the roughly 60,000 already there.
