The U.S. Defense Department on Monday reiterated its stance to make any withdrawal timetable from Iraq according to the evaluation on the ground there.
"With respect to timetables I would say the same thing I would say as respects to the security situation -- it is dependent on conditions on the ground," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters at a press briefing.
The Pentagon made the remarks to respond to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who told Arab ambassadors to the United Arab Emirates earlier the day that he has pressed for a withdrawal timetable when negotiating with the United States on an agreement about American forces status beyond 2008.
It was the first time for the Iraqi leader to publicly announced that he had demanded a timetable for a U.S. withdrawal.
Although the United States has no intention to permanently station its troops in Iraq," timeline tend to be artificial in nature," Whitman said.
"In a situation where things are as dynamic as they are in Iraq, I would just tell you, it's usually best to look at these things based on conditions on the ground," he added.
Ruled by a United Nation mandate, the U.S. military presence in Iraq would expire at the end of 2008, and the two countries were discussing a new agreement to provide legal basis for American troops stay.
So far, four of the five extra U.S. combat brigades that were deployed in Iraq early last year have been pulled out and the last one was set to leave later this month.
However, the Defense Department announced last week that it would send six combat brigades to Iraq early next year as replacement troops, including 33,000 Army soldiers and marines, to keep a total of 15 combat brigades stationed in the country, meaning that President George W. Bush's administration had no intention on further reduction of U.S. troops in Iraq before he ends his term.
Source:Xinhua
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