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Officials say anticipated US troop cuts in Iraq unlikely due to violence upsurge

Senior Pentagon officials said on Wednesday that in the aftermath of a burst of sectarian violence in Iraq, it was unlikely that an announcement of troop cuts there would be made next week, as had been expected.

The officials' hesitancy reflected uncertainty over whether the sectarian bombings and insurgent attacks, which have killed hundreds of Iraqis in the past two weeks, might lead to a broader civil war, and whether Iraqi forces were up to the task of keeping order.

Top Army commanders are to meet with US President George W. Bush next week to discuss the matter, but the officials said that any announcement of troop cuts could intensify the violence in Iraq and may convince insurgents that they were driving out US troops.

"No decision on US forces is likely, given conditions on the ground and the need to build Iraqi capacity," a senior Pentagon official said.

"It would send the wrong strategic signal to the insurgents right now," the official said.

Even so, several officials said, the top US generals in Iraq, John Abizaid and George Casey Jr., will have to decide by the end of the month whether to send in the first of the combat units scheduled to replace troops due to depart this summer, or to hold them back, in effect lowering troop levels.
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