Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visits with a neighborhood leader in Rashid, Iraq, March 1. While U.S. President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki recently agreed to set a general “time horizon" for bringing more U.S. troops home, Mullen said in an interview July 20 that to his knowledge, the agreement does not include specific dates.

President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki this week agreed to set a general “time horizon" for bringing more U.S. troops home from the war, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” but he added that to his knowledge, the agreement does not include specific dates. “I think the consequences could be very dangerous in that regard,” he said.

The admiral stressed his view that troop-strength decisions must be conditions-based, but said he wants to see more U.S. forces come home. “I think the strategic goals of having timed horizons are ones that we all seek,” he said, “because eventually we would like to see U.S. forces draw down and eventually all come home,” he said.

Though he said he worries that a “rapid” movement of U.S. forces out of Iraq could create instability, Mullen said he found during a trip there two weeks ago that security conditions were better than he expected they would be, and that could mean more troops can come home if the trend continues.

“If conditions continue to improve, I would look to be able to make recommendations to President Bush in the fall to continue those reductions,” Mullen said.

With the return home this month of the last “surge” brigade, commanders will spend the next several weeks assessing post-surge conditions in Iraq, including political and economic progress, before making their recommendations concerning future troop levels.

“We’re engaged very much right now with the Iraqi people,” Mullen said. “The Iraqi leadership is starting to generate the kind of political progress that we need to make, [and] the economy is starting to move in the right direction.”

The admiral said he doesn’t know if that means more troops could be home by the end of this administration in January. Logistics and other security details would factor into that, he explained.

“There is a physical challenge with respect to moving troops around,” he said. “You just can’t do it overnight.”