US Defense Secretary Robert Gates expressed optimism Tuesday that US troop cutbacks will continue in Iraq, saying the transition of control to Iraqi security forces was going well.
"As the Iraqi security forces get stronger and get better then we will be able to continue drawing down our troops in the future," Gates told reporters during a visit to Fort Lewis, Washington.
He said the process of giving Iraqi forces primary responsibility for security was "well underway and, based on everything I'm hearing, we'll be able to continue," he said.
"And however long that takes really will depend on the situation on the ground. But things are going very well at this point," he said.
There are currently 146,000 US troops in Iraq, down from nearly 170,000, according to the Pentagon.
The size of the force is expected to shrink to about 140,000 troops by the end of the month when the last of five "surge" brigades is out of the country.
General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, then has another 45 days in which to assess the security situation and decide whether deeper cuts can be made.
With security conditions improved markedly in Iraq, pressure has grown to shift more forces to Afghanistan where US military officials say they are needed to confront rising levels of insurgent violence.
In a sign of the changing priorities, the US Central Command this weekend dispatched the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to the Arabian Sea to support military operations in Afghanistan, leaving the Gulf without a carrier.
Gates said the acting head of the US Central Command, General Martin Dempsey, "felt that providing some additional combat support in Afghanistan was something he could do without any cost to the mission in Iraq."
"And I think it's just part of our commitment to ensure that we have the resources available to be successful in Afghanistan over the long haul," he said.
Last week, the Pentagon announced it would extend what was supposed to have been a seven-month deployment of some 2,200 marines who are fighting with NATO forces in southern Afghanistan.
The marines were scheduled to be out in October, but will now leave a month later in November.
