Reuters Photo: President Bush shakes hands with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in the Oval Office, September 13,...
Talabani, speaking at a joint news conference after a meeting with President George W. Bush, said however he hoped that by the end of 2006, Iraqi security forces would be strong enough to start taking over from "many" U.S. troops.
"We will set no timetable for withdrawal, Mr. President. A timetable will help the terrorists, will encourage them that they could defeat the superpower of the world and the Iraqi people," Talabani said in remarks that aligned him with Bush's often-stated view that a timetable for withdrawal would embolden the insurgency in Iraq.
"We hope that by the end of 2006, our security forces are up to the level of taking responsibility from many American troops, with complete agreement with Americans," he said.
Talabani had said in an interview published in the Washington Post on Tuesday that the United States could withdraw as many as 50,000 troops from Iraq by the end of the year because there are enough Iraqi forces ready to begin taking control of parts of the country.
Talabani said in the interview he would discuss reductions in U.S. forces during the meeting with Bush and said he thought the United States could pull some troops out immediately.
Bush, facing waning support at home for the 2-1/2 year-war in Iraq, has rejected the notion of setting a timetable for a withdrawal, saying only that as Iraqi security forces assume more control, U.S. forces can stand down.
Bush also reiterated strong words against Syria, which the United States accuses of allowing foreign fighters to cross into Iraq, saying Damascus was isolating itself.
"The Syrian leader must understand we take his lack of action seriously. And the government is going to become more and more isolated as a result of two things: one, not being cooperative with the Iraqi government in terms of securing Iraq; and two, not being fully transparent about what they did in Lebanon," Bush said in answer to a question on Syria.
"And this is a subject of conversation, of course, I'll have with allies in places like New York and on the other times I communicate with our allies: that Syria must be a focus of getting them to change their behavior, particularly as it regards to democracy and trying to prevent democracies from emerging," he said.
Bush will be in New York this week for the U.N. General Assembly session.
The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said on Monday that "Our patience is running out with Syria. They need to decide: Are they going to be with a successful Iraq or are they going to be an obstacle to the success of Iraq?