(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-09-15 10:07

"The other message that I worry that some of the amendments send is that it sends a signal to potential adversaries that we're stretched so thinly and that we are so strained that we cannot adequately respond to crises elsewhere in the world," Gates said. "And that's not a correct view, if others should take it, but it is a worry."

In a visit to the Marine base at Quantico, Va., on Friday, Bush said commanders in Iraq would "have the flexibility and the troops needed to achieve the mission," and he urged Congress to heed the advice of Gen. David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, not to withdraw too speedily.

"I also expect the Congress to support our men and women in uniform and their families," Bush said.

Gates, striking an optimistic note, said that if the current plan for troop withdrawals between now and next summer are carried out fully, it is possible that some US units will not have to serve a full 15 months.

"Maybe 14 months, 14 and a half months, 13 and a half months," he said. "We just don't know right now. It will all depend on a lot of ifs. But just looking at the mathematics of it, that's a possibility."

Gates opened the Pentagon news conference with an appeal for a bipartisan consensus on a way forward in Iraq.

"The consequences of American failure in Iraq at this point would, I believe, be disastrous not just for Iraq but for the region, for the United States and for the world," Gates said. "No discussion of where and how we go from here can avoid this stark reality."

Gates also said he saw early signs that Shiites in Iraq may be starting to turn against Shiite extremists in the Mahdi Army who have gone too far with their violent ways - in the same way that a growing number of ordinary Sunnis have revolted against Sunni extremists to bring a new peace to Anbar province.

Bush announced Thursday that he had approved a plan recommended by Petraeus to reduce troop levels from the current 20 combat brigades to 15 brigades by July. Gates said it was too early for Petraeus or others to forecast with confidence the timing and scale of any additional cuts.

Bush has ordered Petraeus to make a further assessment and fresh recommendations next March.

"My hope is that when he does his assessment in March that General Petraeus will be able to say that he thinks that the pace of the drawdowns can continue at the same rate in the second half of the year as in the first half of the year," Gates said.

"That's my hope," Gates said, adding that experience has shown that hopes can be quickly dashed in a war that has been far more difficult and costly than anyone in the administration had expected.

If the troop reductions through July 2008 that Bush has approved are carried out fully, the US force in Iraq may be larger by several thousand troops that it was when Bush's troop buildup began early this year. That is because at least some of the roughly 8,500 support troops that went with 21,500 extra combat troops between February and June are likely to be kept in place, officials said.

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