The United States needs to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq within the next six months, Sen. Chuck Hagel said Thursday, rather than ratcheting up its military commitment now. With Iraq exploding in sectarian violence and “moving closer and closer to a straight-out civil war,” Hagel said, the Bush administration’s decision to transfer nearly 5,000 additional U.S. troops into Baghdad is “only going to make it worse for us.” With violence “out of control” and militias in charge, Hagel said, U.S. troops increasingly are “seen as occupiers.” It’s also possible Iraq may evolve into some kind of Islamic republic, he said....