Mullen: Ground Situation To Determine Iraq Strength

Crediting the increase of U.S. troop presence with the significant drop in violence, Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stopped short of providing a specific timetable for strength reductions in Iraq. "Clearly, where security continues to get better is a good thing," Mullen said in a Dec. 18 interview with a Pentagon press office staff writer. "Trying to be predictive at this point is all conditions-based. Conditions on the ground will determine how the redeployment will occur. Events on the ground could still drive it one way or the other." Mullen noted that the first of five surge brigades has left Iraq, and all of those units could be home buy July if progress continues. The number of combat brigades would drop to 15 from the present 19.