President George W. Bush on Monday opens a crucial two-day meeting to reassess US efforts in Iraq, including some discussion on the sensitive issue of drawing down international troops in the country.
The talks at Bush's Camp David country retreat near Washington will see top US officials conferring at length by teleconference with the new government in Baghdad as they address overall strategy in the wake of the completion of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government.
On Sunday US General George Casey, the commander of coalition forces in Iraq, suggested that the filling of the three crucial security posts in Maliki's cabinet this week opens the door for consideration of reducing US troop levels.
And Iraq national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie told US television Sunday that the discussions will deal with troop levels along with financing and training for the Iraq military, predicting coalition forces could fall by one-third from the current 150,000 level by the end of 2006.
"I believe by the end of the year, of this year ... that the number of the multinational forces will be probably less than 100,000 in this country," Rubaie told CNN television.
Earlier White House officials insisted that the meeting was not going to produce any decisions on troop levels, and denied that it was a "war council".
Instead, they said, the focus was to be on identifying ways to aid the Maliki government and help him meet goals such as boosting electricity output, securing Baghdad, and defusing the threat from militias.
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