Iraqi security forces should be able to maintain stability in the country when American combat troops leave next year, and the timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces remains on schedule, Fort Lewis’ commanding general said Thursday.

Lt. Gen. Charles Jacoby, deployed to Iraq to run daily American military operations there, told reporters in a wide-ranging conference call that no decisions have been made about accelerating or slowing the drawdown of American troops.

The security agreement between Washington and Baghdad calls for American combat troops to leave by August 2010.

About 130,000 U.S. service members are deployed to Iraq; by next year, that number should be down to about 50,000 military advisors.

But if U.S. commanders in Afghanistan formally request more help there, pressure could mount to withdraw troops from Iraq earlier.

“It’s too early, really, to say right now whether the operational environment is going to support accelerated troop withdrawals,” Jacoby said. “We’ll be ready to do that if we’re asked to and if we think that the security environment has improved.”

I Corps, on its first wartime deployment since the Korean War, left Fort Lewis in April. The unit’s 1,000 or so soldiers serve mostly in Baghdad under the banner of Multi-National Corps-Iraq. They are scheduled to return home next spring.

Jacoby serves as the American military’s second-in-command in Iraq, below Gen. Ray Odierno.

American troops withdrew from cities and towns on June 30 under the security agreement, and Iraqi forces are taking the lead on most military operations.

“I think the Iraqi security forces are doing their work in the cities,” Jacoby said. “We’re enabling and assisting them as they ask. They don’t need our combat forces in the cities.”

Iraqi security forces are primarily asking for American help with intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, medical evacuation and logistics, he said.

The combat brigades – including Fort Lewis’ 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division in Diyala province and 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division in Baghdad – will be replaced with what the military calls advisory and assistance brigades. The locations of those troops have yet to be determined, but they’ll be tasked with training Iraqi forces and with supporting provincial reconstruction teams, which use military and civilian workers to help rebuild war-torn areas.

Iraq has seen an increase in high-profile attacks since American troops pulled out of cities and towns in June, including a twin car bombing at the finance and foreign ministries last month that killed about 100 people.

Jacoby acknowledged that many parts of the country remain dangerous and said insurgents “are resorting to a campaign of sensationalism through suffering.”

Al-Qaida in Iraq remains the group behind much of the violence, Jacoby said, adding that its ability to inflict harm has dropped significantly in recent years. The group’s chosen targets – gathering places for civilians, Iraqi military units and national government buildings – are the most unsettling aspect of the attacks, he said.

“They’re doing that to discredit the Iraqi security forces,” he said. “They’re doing that to try to incite sectarian violence.”

The spike in bloodshed among Iraqis comes as the American death rate is dropping to its lowest levels since the invasion, largely because of a drop in combat operations and a diminished presence in cities. Seven troops died in August, the lowest monthly toll since 2003. Six have died so far in September, including two Fort Lewis soldiers killed when their Stryker rolled over in Baqouba.

Insurgents aren’t really targeting American bases for attack, Jacoby said. They’re targeting fellow Iraqis.

“My business is security,” he said. “I don’t like it when Iraqi civilians are at risk. I don’t like it when Iraqi security forces are specifically targeted.”

Scott Fontaine: 253-320-4758

scott.fontaine@thenewstribune.com