U.S. general: Iraq not ready for pullout

BAGHDAD, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Despite mounting public pressure, the U.S. general in charge of helping Iraq create an army says training troops to replace coalition forces can't be rushed.

Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, commander of the Multinational Security Transition Command, told CNN progress was mixed in re-creating a stable military and security force.

"It's uneven across the country, it's uneven across units, it's uneven between the army and the police," he said.

The need to build a new army came after the former U.S. administrator of Iraq, Paul Bremer, disbanded the 400,000-strong force that had served under Saddam Hussein. The U.S. military says there are now 100,000 Iraqi troops.

On Saturday, President Bush rejected Democratic calls to begin steps to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq.

Tuesday, Iraqi leaders from the Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish communities, meeting at a summit in Cairo, said they wanted a more precise timeline for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces.