U.S. soldiers take position next to a burning U.S. military vehicle (AFP).jpg

BAGHDAD, October 19 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – While the U.S. military was reportedly hatching a plan to gradually reduce troop levels in Iraq from the current 130,000 to about 50,000 by mid 2005, two American soldiers were killed and one was wounded overnight in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in northern Iraq.

"Two 4th Infantry Division soldiers were killed and one was wounded in a rocket-propelled grenade and small arms attack," the U.S. army said in a statement Sunday, October 19.

The attack took place Saturday night near Kirkuk , a spokesman said, correcting an earlier statement that located it southwest of Tikrit, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, 260 kilometers (160 miles) north of the capital, and Tikrit, the hometown of ousted President Saddam Hussein, 180 kilometers (110 miles) north of Baghdad, have been the scene of frequent attacks blamed – by the U.S.-led occupation forces - on loyalists of the former strongman.

The deaths bring to at least 103 the number of Americans killed in combat since U.S. President George W. Bush declared an end to major hostilities on May 1, according to an AFP count.

50,000 By Mid-2005
   
In another development, the Washington Post reported Sunday that the U.S. military has prepared a plan to reduce the level of U.S. troops in the war-ravaged Arab country.

Withdrawals would begin in the second quarter of 2004 and would see the force reduced to fewer than 100,000 by the middle of the year, the report said.

The plan has not yet been approved by U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Plans are also being made to withdraw British and U.S. forces from key cities in Iraq , starting with Basra and Mosul , a military official told the Post.

And in another change, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq , Army Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, will likely be moved out of Iraq sometime next year and replaced by Lieutenant General Thomas Metz, according to the American daily.

U.S. officials are trying to balance troop morale and U.S. military needs elsewhere in the world with success on the ground in Iraq .

"What will it take to sustain the conditions under which you can have political and economic progress?" one official asked, according to the daily.

On the other hand, lengthy deployments could ultimately damage the all-volunteer U.S. military, by prompting people to quit, the report warned.