'US troop levels in Iraq may not drop until Fall'

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
US commanders overseeing the US troop surge in Iraq won't know whether they can bring troop levels back down until at least autumn, the chief spokesman for the command said Wednesday. If US troops meet continued success pacifying Baghdad, top US commander Gen. David Petraeus will want to sustain the momentum by keeping the five new Army combat brigades earmarked for the capital in place, Maj. Gen. William C. Caldwell said. "I think it'll be fall before Gen. Petraeus can make a decision on whether he wants to bring down his force level," Caldwell said in an interview with The Associated Press in Dubai.