Gates backs pause in future U.S. troop pullout

By Andrew Gray

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Monday he backed a brief pause in U.S. troop cuts in Iraq once an initial pullout of five combat brigades has been completed in July.

Troop levels in Iraq are a big U.S. political issue, particularly in a presidential election year, and the comments by Gates provoked swift criticism from Democrats. Both leading Democrats want a speedy withdrawal, while Republicans have said U.S. commanders should decide when it is safe to pull out.

"The notion of a brief period of consolidation and evaluation probably does make sense," Gates told reporters in Baghdad, endorsing publicly for the first time an idea discussed by the U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus.

Asked how long this period of evaluation would last, Gates said: "That's one of the things we are still thinking about."

Sen. Barack Obama, who is battling Sen. Hillary Clinton to become the Democratic nominee in November's U.S. presidential election, condemned Gates' stance.

"We cannot wage war without end in Iraq while ignoring mounting costs to our troops and their families, our security and our economy," Obama said in a statement.

Since the U.S.-led invasion nearly five years ago, 3,960 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq, with civilian deaths estimated at 81,000 to above 88,000.

Clinton's response was similarly scathing.