US Defence Secretary comments on Iraq

(23 Jun 2006) SHOTLIST 1. US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and US Army General George Casey enter Pentagon news conference 2. Cutaway of journalists 3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Donald Rumsfeld, US Defence Secretary "It will very likely not be a steady path down. It could very likely be a draw down with an increase." 4. Cutaway of photographer 5. Rumsfeld and Casey 6. SOUNDBITE: (English) General George Casey, US Army's top commander in Iraq "The Sunni insurgency has been - since the elections - reaching out and looking for ways to re-evaluate their options and to come out of the resistance against occupation with honour." 7. Cutaway of journalists 8. SOUNDBITE: (English) General George Casey, US Army's top commander in Iraq "We and the Iraqi government have several different strands of contacts going on, and there are opportunities in that regard that we just haven't had before." 9. Cutaway of journalists 10. SOUNDBITE: (English) General George Casey, US Army's top commander in Iraq Casey: "For the Iranians or another surrogate...." Rumsfeld: "And Iran's the principle funder of them." Casey: "I can't believe they're not giving them this equipment to them knowing that it's going to be used against us. Of course they do." 11. Wide shot of conference room STORYLINE The top US commander in Iraq predicted on Thursday a reduction in the size of US forces deployed there although he said he had not made new recommendations to his Pentagon bosses on the size and timing of any cuts. General George Casey was speaking at a Pentagon news conference in Washington DC alongside Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld said Casey had not yet had sufficient time to consult with the new Iraqi government, but that in any case the size of the US force is likely to rise and fall in coming months, depending on political and security conditions. "It will very likely not be a steady path down," Rumsfeld said. "It could very likely be a draw down with an increase," he added. Noting that there now are 126,900 US troops in Iraq, Rumsfeld said that number could very well go back up at some point. Casey, who said more than once last year that he expected to see "fairly substantial" US troop reductions during spring and summer of 2006, noted that the force has dropped from about 138-thousand in March to 126,900 now. Casey also said that members of the Sunni insurgency have been reaching out to the new Iraqi government, giving US military commanders opportunities to forge communications with the resistance groups. Casey said the US military and the Iraqi government "have several different strands of contacts going on, and there are opportunities in that regard that we just haven't had before." He did not elaborate on the exact nature of the contacts, but said that the Sunnis were looking for a way "to come out of the resistance against occupation with honour." Casey also said the insurgency has grown more complex in recent months, and he complained that it has been assisted by Iranian special operations forces who provide bomb materials, weapons and training to Shiite extremists in southern Iraq. The Republican-controlled Senate on Thursday soundly rejected two Democratic attempts to urge withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, including an amendment to begin pulling out by the end of the year. Republicans accused the Democrats of wanting to abandon Iraq before the mission is complete, while Democrats said it was time for changes in Bush's failed Iraq strategy. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...