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US forces could be ‘repositioned’ if Iraq strategy fails, says Gates

* Republicans block Senate debate on Iraq
* Democrats vow they will force Bush to change course

WASHINGTON: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday he could envision circumstances in which the United States would “reposition” its forces in Iraq to get them out of harm’s way.

In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gates went further than any administration official in discussing what the United States might do if its strategy to stabilise Iraq fails. “I hate to get into hypotheticals, but I certainly can see circumstances in which we would first of all reposition our forces to take them, to try to move them out of harm’s way, and then see where we go from there,” he said.

The defence secretary was testifying about an administration request for 716.5 billion dollars in defence spending, including more than 235 billion dollars for US military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere this year and in 2008.

Gates reiterated that a precipitous US withdrawal from Iraq would have serious consequences for Iraq and the region, and defended the administration’s plan to surge more than 21,500 US troops to Iraq to try to end a spiral of sectarian violence.

If the strategy succeeds in tamping down the violence and if the Iraqis move forward on political reconciliation, he said, “I would hope that we would be able to begin drawing down our troops later this year.”

Gates said the Pentagon was drawing up a detailed matrix to evaluate the Iraqis’ progress in meeting its military and political commitments to the plan, and that Congress would get regular updates.

Gates acknowledged concern that Iraqi units were arriving in Baghdad at only 55 to 60 percent strength. He said the plan to stabilise Baghdad with a surge in US and Iraq troops was probably going to slip a few days and become a “rolling implementation,” he said.

Gates said the US could interrupt the flow of US troops if the Iraqis failed to live up to their military commitments to the plan. He said the Pentagon could boost the number of additional forces being sent to Iraq, adding as many as 3,000 troops to the 21,500 being deployed under the president’s war plan.

Earlier, Republicans blocked a debate on the Iraq war in the US Senate on Monday, dealing a setback to critics of President George W Bush’s plan to send in thousands more troops, but Democrats warned they would not give up trying to force Bush to change course. Republicans largely united to employ Senate rules against the newly elected Democratic majority to derail the debate on a resolution expressing disagreement with Bush’s plan to deploy an additional 21,500 troops in Iraq. Democrats vowed to return to the subject when it considers billions more in funding for the Iraq war requested by Bush on Monday.

Under Senate rules it needed 60 votes before the 100-member Senate could begin debate. It received only 49, with 47 voting against in a largely party-line vote. agencies

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