6,400 U.S. troops headed home from Iraq

WASHINGTON, May 25 (UPI) -- One division headquarters and two brigade combat teams are to leave Iraq this summer as part of a planned drawdown, the U.S. Defense Department said.

The Pentagon said the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Calvary Division and the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Calvary Division would head to the United States this summer.

The rotation involves 775 members of the division headquarters and 6,400 soldiers from the two brigade combat teams.

"In accordance with the security agreement between the United States and Iraq signed in 2008, all U.S. forces will depart Iraq by Dec. 31, 2011," the Pentagon said.

Iraqi lawmakers could review the bilateral of status of forces agreement that outlined the U.S. troop withdrawal. The Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is still without new Cabinet ministers for defense more than a year after parliamentary elections.

U.S. forces led the military invasion in Iraq in 2003 to remove Baathist dictator Saddam Hussein from power.