WASHINGTON, June 11 (UPI) -- The United States may start pulling troops out of Iraq this year, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said Sunday.
Gen. George W. Casey Jr. said the number of troops could be gradually reduced if the new Iraqi government makes steady progress and the Iraqi Army gained in self-sufficiency, The International Herald-Tribune reported.
A top Iraqi security official said Sunday the number of U.S. troops in Iraq could drop this year from the current 130,000 to perhaps 100,000, the newspaper reported.
Casey, who appeared on three U.S. Sunday morning news programs, called the death of al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi "a major blow both to his network and to al-Qaida."
Iraqi security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie predicted the troop cuts on CNN and said Zarqawi's death hurt al-Qaida badly. He warned, however, that it won't stop terrorist attacks completely.
Rubaie predicted that Zarqawi's death would have a "huge" impact, as Iraqis began feeling safe enough to participate in the political process, the newspaper said.
