Top General to Advise Iraq Troop Cut

Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is expected to advise President Bush to cut the troop level in Iraq next year by nearly half, the Los Angeles Times reports.  He will be conveying the Joint Chiefs' concern that attempting to maintain elevated troop levels in Iraq will cripple the US military, sources tell the Times.

His assessment will likely clash with that of Gen. Petraeus, who commands US forces in Iraq and is expected to advise a continuation of the surge. The Joint Chiefs were privately skeptical about the troop increase to begin with, but publicly supported the move. They are said to consider it critical to pull troops out of Iraq to insure the ability to respond to other threats. (More Peter Pace stories.)