American troop withdrawal from Iraq can start the next year

The U.S. military may not be able to win any new wars as quickly as planned because the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have strained its manpower and resources, the nation's top military officer told Congress in a classified report.

&to=http:// english.pravda.ru/usa/2001/08/25/13341.html ' target=_blank>Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, described the U.S. military as in a period of increased risk, according to a senior defense official, who described the report Tuesday on the condition of anonymity.

Myers predicted the risk would go down in a year or two, the official said. Myers provided the report to Congress Monday. The U.S. military has timelines in place for defeating its potential adversaries, given enough soldiers, tanks, aircraft and warships to do the job. But with so much of those resources tied up fighting insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan, those timelines could slip, Myers said, according to the defense official.

About 138,000 American troops are in Iraq, according to &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/cis/2001/10/30/19545.html ' target=_blank>U.S. Central Command. Another 18,000 are in Afghanistan.

Military officials have given no precise estimate when they will be able to significantly draw down the number of U.S. troops in Iraq, but some generals have suggested it could come next year if Iraqi security forces continue to improve in quality and grow in numbers, reports ABC News.

According to the Forbes, US military officials have suggested that American troops could start leaving by early 2006 if the Iraqi military and police are equipped and trained well enough to take over the job.