MOSUL, Iraq, Jan 27 (AFP) - The nature and size of the US troop presence in Iraq after the elections will depend on certain conditions, including the combat readiness of local forces, the US military's top general told AFP Thursday.
"It is going to be conditions-based is what prime minister (Iyad) Allawi said and we agree with that," said General George Casey, the commander of US troops in Iraq, during a visit with soldiers in the restive northern city of Mosul.
"As the Iraqi security forces come on board, I think you will see the possibility for us to make our forces less visible."
He did not say what the other conditions were.
US President George W. Bush said Wednesday that troops would leave Iraq "as quickly as possible" but senior US officials have so far refrained from announcing a timetable.
Asked about the performance of Iraqi forces, Casey said: "They are doing fine."
The general pointed to the presence of Iraqi soldiers and police alongside US troops in tense Sunni Muslim areas like Fallujah, west of Baghdad, Samarra and Mosul to the north and Babil province, south of the capital.
"They are in the fight," he said.
"People are looking for an army to instantly emerge and that's not what it takes to build an army."
Casey said massive assaults against rebel strongholds like Fallujah in November combined with a recent increase in operations and raids in the run-up to Sunday's elections is starting to make a dent in the insurgency.
He said 15,000 insurgents were either killed or captured in 2004.
"It indicates we are a having a pretty good effect on them and I think you are going to see the results of that over the next few days," he said
The general said Iraqis should be assured not scared away from voting by the stepped up security measures including the travel restrictions and large presence of US and Iraqi forces, tanks and armoured vehicles on the streets.
"The tanks, Bradleys and Strykers are a sign of security so they can feel fairly confident they can go out and vote in safety," he said.
With mounting US casualties in Iraq and the approaching elections, the debate as to when US troops would begin reducing their numbers in the violence-torn country has gained momentum.
Allawi said Tuesday it was "reckless and dangerous" to set a timetable for the pullout of US troops from Iraq adding that any reduction must be gradual and contingent on the strength of Iraqi forces.
01/27/2005 16:09 GMT - AFP