U.S. troop levels won’t drop until 2006

? A substantive reduction in the number of U.S. forces in Iraq won’t likely be seen until sometime between 2006 and 2008, a top Army general said this week.

The talk of a general timetable for drawdown stems from improvements in Iraqi security forces and successes against the insurgency, said Gen. Richard A. Cody, the Army’s vice chief of staff.

Cody said any reduction in forces would be planned for in the later months of the rotation of soldiers and large units that will be staggered between 2006 and 2008. The planning for this rotation is under way.

The insurgency has forced the United States to keep at least 138,000 troops in Iraq since the war began two years ago. About 150,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq now, with about 12,000 who were sent to assist in security for the Jan. 30 elections remaining.