Gen. Pace Optimistic About Iraq Progress

In this photo provided by the White House, President Bush speaks during a video teleconference with Vice President Dick Cheney, on screen, and military commanders in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, in Washington Saturday, Oct. 21, 2006. Pictured from left are National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, Deputy National Security Advisor J.D. Crouch, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State on Iraq David Satterfield, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Gen. John Abizaid and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace. (AP Photo/The White House, Eric Draper) (Eric Draper - AP)

Pace said there was not yet a U.S.-Iraqi agreement on specific benchmarks for progress; he said discussions are ongoing with regard to benchmarks in the political, economic and security areas. Pace said it would not be wise to set specific dates for meeting certain markers.

"Having a very precise date I think is not useful, either from the standpoint of forcing yourself to do something too soon or from giving your enemies too much information," he said.

Casey also said he felt the United States should continue to focus on drawing down the number of American forces in the country, adding that he would not hesitate to ask for more troops if he felt they were necessary.

"We're not making the progress we would like and that's why we have to look at what we are doing and see what we need to change to get the kind of progress that we need," Hadley told National Public Radio. "You don't need a timetable to be able and willing to say to the Iraqis, `Look, if this is going to work and succeed, you have to step up and make some very difficult choices.'"

He predicted that stability and security will not be achieved in Iraq before Bush leaves the White House.

"Is there going to be peace? Is there going to the end of any violence? Of course not. This violence is going to go on for a long time," Hadley said. "But what you hope for is a situation where Iraqi governmental institutions and Iraqi security forces can manage and contain the violence so that it does not threaten the integrity of the Iraqi state and the ability of the Iraqi state to bring prosperity and economic life to its community."

Democrats said Tuesday the suggestion of a timeline has come too late. "While it is helpful to lay out a timeline for the training of the Iraqi forces, after three and a half years of training, this timeline is too long," said Missouri Rep. Ike Skelton, top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.

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Associated Press Writer Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.