Dec. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Peter Pace and former Secretary of State Colin Powell predicted a drop in U.S. troops in Iraq in 2006.

Pace and Powell, a former Joint Chiefs chairman, said progress was being made to have Iraq forces take over the defense of their country. Pace warned that a sudden increase in violence could lead to additional U.S. troops, not a decrease.

``The enemy has a vote in this,'' Pace said on today's ``Fox News Sunday.'' ``If they were to cause some kind of problems that required more troops, then we would do exactly what we've done in the past, which is give the commanders on the ground what they need. And in that case, you could see troop levels go up a little bit to handle that problem.''

One U.S. solider was killed today by a roadside bomb south of Baghdad, according to Agence France-Presse. More than 2,163 U.S. soldiers have been killed in the Iraq War, AFP said.

There are about 158,000 U.S. troops in the country. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Dec. 23 that 20,000 soldiers sent to ensure security for the Oct. 15 constitutional referendum and the Dec. 15 parliamentary elections would leave next month, to be followed by another two brigades, totaling 7,000 soldiers leaving within months.

Powell, speaking on ABC's ``This Week,'' said the numbers will continue to drop for two reasons.

``One, I don't think we can sustain this level of presence with the size force that we have,'' he said. ``You can't keep sending them back over and over. And the other reason is, I think that by next year, we should have built up, and I think we're well on our way to building up, the Iraqi forces to a point where they can take over more of the burden, both the military and police forces.''

Troop Levels

Pace said there was no plan to reduce the number of U.S. troops below 100,000 by the end of 2006, and the transition to Iraqi forces would likely take place battalion by battalion. Each battalion consists of 500 to 700 troops and controls a specific area of the country.

``You'll see it by virtue of turning over more and more territory on the ground so that, in reality, you'll be able to have a map of Iraq,'' Pace told ``Fox News Sunday.'' ``You'll be able to have two colors on it, one that's currently controlled mostly by coalition forces, and the other that's currently controlled mostly by Iraqi forces, and watch the colors change.''

Powell said the new Shiite-dominated government can either take revenge against the Sunni minority who controlled the country under deposed leader Saddam Hussein or work to unify Iraq.

Time for Statesmanship

``If the Shiites just see it as an opportunity to oppress the Sunnis, then we're going to have a very tough time,'' Powell said. ``And it could lead to a civil war. So this is the time for great statesmanship on the part of the Iraqis. Increasingly, the future of Iraq is truly in the hands of the Iraqis and not in the hands of American ambassadors and the American government.''

Powell also said he supports the decision by U.S. President George W. Bush to allow the National Security Agency to eavesdrop without court warrants to prevent terrorism. Still, he said the administration should have easily been able to secure such warrants.

``It didn't seem to me that it would have been that hard to go get the warrants,'' Powell told ABC's ``This Week.'' ``And even in the case of an emergency, you go and do it.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan D. Salant in Washington at jsalant@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 25, 2005 20:36 EST