Testifying alongside U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, General Peter Pace was asked whether coalition forces could withdraw within the next three months from any of 14 Iraqi provinces that he had described as calm and stable.

"No, sir," Pace told members of a Senate appropriations subcommittee considering an administration request for 66.3 billion dollars in additional military funding, most of it for Iraq.

Rumsfeld said he expected a new Iraqi cabinet to be formed by a May 21 deadline, ending a political bottleneck that has held up major decisions on the future of the 130,000-strong U.S. force in Iraq.

The U.S. military commander in Iraq, General George Casey, said last year he anticipated a substantial reduction in the U.S. force this year, but neither Rumsfeld nor Pace gave any indication that cuts are imminent.

"If General Casey were here, he would say that there must be reasonable security, there must be a reasonable economic opportunity, and to have either one you've got to have a unity government," Rumsfeld said.

"So we're not going to get the security, in my view, in his view, unless the new government engages the country, has a reconciliation process and demonstrates to the Iraqi people that they have a stake in that government," he said.

The months-long struggle to form a new government in Iraq has been accompanied by a surge in sectarian violence, with Shiite militias in the security forces believed to be responsible for the kidnapping and killing of Sunnis.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, said she was concerned that U.S. forces are being caught in the middle. She singled out the Shiite militia led by radical cleric Moqtada Sadr as a source of particular concern.

"It seems to me the time is upon us to transition that mission and begin to confine our presence to logistics and support and move our people out," she said.

"I don't disagree with the construct you've presented," Rumsfeld replied. "We ought to be worried about Sadr and his militia. Armed militias in a country with a democracy is inconsistent with the success of that democracy."

He said U.S. commanders were wrestling with how many U.S. troops were needed to foster security without becoming the fuel for the insurgency, he said.

Rumsfeld noted that Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki had spoken out publicly on the need to address the militias.

Maliki, who has been struggling to form a broad-based cabinet, has decided on a defense minister, but debate was still under way over who should head the interior and finance ministries, Rumsfeld told the senators.

The U.S. course in Iraq has come under growing fire, with Rumsfeld the target of resignation calls by a group of retired generals, including some who commanded forces in Iraq.

Asked about military morale in the wake of the criticism, Rumsfeld said, "I haven't done any polling or taken temperatures in that. I haven't noticed anything."

He then turned to Pace, who said there had been no drop in morale at the Pentagon and none had been reported from the field.

"So as far as morale of the force, no impact, sir," he said.

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