Washington: The US military is in danger of running out of funds for its Iraq and Afghanistan operations, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has warned.
Gates made the statement on Friday, days after Congress approved a $70 billion funding for US troops.
He said that budget constraints were undermining planning and “is requiring us to make short-term plans and short-term decisions."
However, Gates also said that at least five combat troops could pull out of Iraq by July next year, with the first unit due to leave this month.
There are currently almost 160,000 US troops in Iraq. Pentagon plans to cut the number of troops to 130,000 by mid-2008.
"The first of those is coming out this month. My hope has been that the circumstances on the ground will continue to improve," he said, referring to the returning troops.