U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Friday the number of U.S. combat forces in Iraq would be cut by some 7,000 by early next year, but the numbers involved in training Iraq's new military would increase, according to Reuters. Army General George Casey, the U.S. commander in Iraq, later told reporters that the U.S. force would be reduced to a new baseline of about 130,000 from the current standard level of 138,000. Rumsfeld, the second senior U.S. official to visit Iraq this week in the wake of Iraq's parliamentary election, said progress in Iraq's politics, economics and security lay behind the decision to scale back the combat troops. "President (George W.) Bush has authorized an adjustment in U.S. combat brigades in Iraq from 17 to 15," Rumsfeld said, addressing U.S. troops at a military camp east of Falluja. "This will include increases in the number of U.S. forces involved in transition teams, intelligence support, and logistics, to assist the Iraqi security forces in continuing to assume greater responsibility for the security of their country." --More 01 34 Local Time 22 34 GMT
