U.S. ground troops mostly done in Iraq in '09

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iraqi security forces will largely be able to fight on their own without combat help from U.S. ground forces by the middle of 2009, the senior U.S. Army officer in charge of training Iraqi forces said on Wednesday.

"The ground forces will mostly be done by the middle of next year," Army Lt. Gen. James Dubik told the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee.

That could be between April and August, Dubik said.

Dubik said U.S. forces still might be needed at that point for air support and training. He declined to say when operations for all U.S. forces would be completed, saying that depends on when the Iraqi government completes certain tasks, such as purchasing its own aircraft.

"I would not put an X on the calendar, Mr. Chairman," Dubik said when asked by Rep. Ike Skelton, a Missouri Democrat who heads the committee, for a date when the Iraqis will be able to handle their own security without U.S. help.

Dubik's comments come as officials in Iraq raise the prospect of setting a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces as part of negotiations over a new security deal with Washington. U.S. officials have said they oppose setting dates for withdrawal.

Iraqi security forces have grown to 566,000 as of May 2008, up from 444,000 in June 2007, Dubik said. The quality of those troops also has improved, he said, though leadership is uneven and there are still pockets of sectarianism.

Security gains in Iraq "are dramatic, but can be reversed and can be stymied," he said. "Some form of partnership and assistance ... in my opinion is still necessary."

Iraqi forces now control nine of the country's 18 provinces, Dubik said. He said in January that Iraqi forces could control all of the country by the end of 2008.

(Editing by Kristin Roberts and Frances Kerry)