"The time and conditions are right for coalition forces to reduce the number of troops in Iraq," said Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

The drawdown, scheduled over the course of the next six months, will leave 12 American BCTs in Iraq. One British brigade and an F-16 squadron will also redeploy from Iraq, along with associated support teams, the U.S.-led Multinational Force-Iraq reported.

MNF-I said the improved security environment in Iraq provided the conditions for U.S. troops to reduce their presence in the country.

U.S. President Barack Obama told an audience at a marine base in North Carolina in February that the mission in Iraq had changed to a supporting role as Iraq recovers.

"After we remove our combat brigades, our mission will change from combat to supporting the Iraqi government and its security forces as they take the absolute lead in securing their country," Obama said.

Iraq held provincial elections in 14 of its 18 provinces in January, and Iraqi forces took the lead in security operations. The MNF-I report said that as American forces pull back to their major bases of operations, "more and more Iraqi flags will go up at formerly shared security stations."

The announcement follows a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Turkish counterpart, Ali Babacan, who expressed a joint commitment to "a democratic, pluralistic, unified and federal Iraq."

Iraqi media reports Clinton is expected to arrive in Baghdad in the coming days to review the Obama policy with top Iraqi officials.

Siniora welcomes officials from Iraqi Kurdistan
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora welcomed a delegation to Beirut from the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq to discuss bilateral relations.

"Lebanon is the second-largest investor in our region," KRG Foreign Relations Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir said. "They are active in a variety of fields, from trade to education to banking, and have a renowned history of professionalism."

During the visit, Lebanese and Kurdish officials signed a memorandum of understanding in Beirut to strengthen economic ties, the KRG said in a statement.

The visit is part of a policy advocated by KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani to strengthen ties between his region, the Arab world and the broader international community.

Kurdish officials also emphasized their support for the Christian community of Iraq during a visit with Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, the head of the Maronite Church, Lebanon's largest Christian outfit.

Officials estimated roughly half of the Christian population in Iraq was displaced because of a spate of targeted killings in 2008, but the community is slowly returning to the region.

Iraqi women face security issues six years on
Iraqi women face continued threats and economic uncertainty despite general gains throughout most of the country, a report said.

A report by the aid agency Oxfam International and the Iraqi al-Amal Association found women in Iraq had suffered from poverty and other social issues with little to no government support.

"Incomes have disappeared, poverty has deepened (and) the Iraqi government has not been providing sufficient financial assistance to vulnerable groups, such as widows and at-risk women, (who) are in need of humanitarian aid," the report said.

Most of the women surveyed for the report -- about 60 percent -- said that security was their top concern, adding violence was a particular issue since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

Meanwhile, more than half said they were displaced from their homes at least once since 2003, and a third complained of a lack of government aid.

Nawal al-Samaraie resigned her post as Iraqi Women's Affairs Minister on Feb. 3, citing a lack of government resources.

Hanaa Adward, who heads al-Amal in Baghdad, echoed those complaints, saying the government had neglected women's issues for far too long, the U.N. humanitarian news agency IRIN reports.

"The Iraqi woman is still suffering from an acute and harsh situation and daily circumstances and marginalization in her own society," she said.

Afghanistan security forces prep for elections
Afghan officials said during a meeting with international forces that providing security for the August presidential election was a national priority.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai issued a decree during the weekend, calling for elections in April or May, but election officials moved to uphold the original Aug. 20 date.

Karzai had called for early elections in line with constitutional provisions that require a vote to be held within 60 days of his term's end on May 22. Elections officials argued for the August date, however, based on concerns for planning and security, among others.

Ahmed Farhad Afghanzoi, an elections coordinator for northern Afghanistan, said the national sentiment toward the elections was positive, but providing security for the vote is the "greatest challenge," the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan reports.

Afghan National Army Gen. Murad Ali Murad said his forces were already making the initial preparations for the security effort required. ISAF Brig. Gen. Jorg Vollmer backed his counterpart, saying his forces would provide the support needed to boost the ANA's capabilities.

"We, ISAF here in the north, will do whatever is needed to support our Afghan friends in preparing and conducting this event of particular importance to Afghanistan," he said.

Food aid short 30 percent in Afghanistan
Afghanistan relief officials said the Afghan government fell short of its promised winter food deliveries by more than 30 percent.

Before the winter months, Kabul had promised to provide nearly 183,000 tons of wheat to 21 of the 34 Afghan provinces but has yet to deliver 127,000 tons of the promised amount to those impacted by high prices, conflict and drought, the U.N. humanitarian news agency IRIN reports.

A drought afflicting most of the limited arable land in Afghanistan has cut agricultural production by 35 percent since 2008. Meanwhile, rampant conflict and soaring food prices have left roughly 8 million people facing food insecurity, aid officials said.

Several groups blame each other for the inability to secure food aid to those in need. The Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority blames government contractors for poor coordination, while lawmakers in Kabul blame the aid groups for mismanagement.

"Every year we suffer similar problems," said Daud Sultanzoy, an Afghan lawmaker.

ISAF official: 'We are not winning' in Afghanistan
International forces in Afghanistan are at risk of losing in the southern parts of the country because of a lack of persistence as the conflict there grows both in intensity and in strategic significance.

In an interview with the BBC, Gen. David McKiernan, the head of NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, said the global effort in support of the government of President Hamid Karzai was positive.

"But there are other areas -- large areas in the southern part of Afghanistan especially, but (also) in parts of the east -- where we are not winning," he said.

McKiernan's comments come on the heels of statements from U.S. President Barack Obama, who told The New York Times that American forces were not winning the war in Afghanistan, describing the conflict there as "complex."

Obama said strategists in Washington saw an opportunity to calm parts of the more volatile regions in Afghanistan by courting moderates within the Taliban regime, noting they were in control of large swaths of the area despite nearly six years of anti-Taliban operations.

The United States has promised to increase its troop presence in Afghanistan by some 17,000 as the mission in Iraq transforms from conflict to reconstruction.

There are 14,000 U.S. troops supporting the NATO mission in Afghanistan and another 19,000 operating independently against militant Taliban and al-Qaida fighters.

Iran invited to Afghanistan conference
Washington made its first moves toward restoring ties with Iran by offering Tehran a seat at the table of an international conference on Afghanistan.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the overtures during a diplomatic visit to Brussels, saying Iran would be invited to take part in a conference of all "interested parties" on Afghanistan, the Financial Times reports.

Tehran has cooperated with Washington on its effort in Afghanistan, moving in concert with Washington's opposition to Taliban extremists and against the poppy cultivation of its eastern neighbor.

Several analysts noted the strategy was in line with the move in Washington toward engagement, a stark contrast to the isolation policy of former President George W. Bush's administration.

"If you are going to have a regional conference on Afghanistan, you have to include the country that is on their western border," one administration official told the Financial Times.

Meanwhile, the U.N. special envoy to Afghanistan, Kai Eide, arrived in Tehran on Monday to discuss expanding ties between both countries.

Eide is scheduled to address the 10-member Economic Cooperation Organization's Council of Ministers, which the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said is a first for an Afghan envoy.

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