Report: Top US general weighing first troop cuts in coming months

Sep 7, 2007, 6:09 GMT

Washington - US President George W Bush's top commander in Iraq sees a possible reduction of one brigade - about 4,000 US troops - by early 2008, according to a US media report.

The Washington Post reported in its Friday edition that US Army General David Petraeus is open to the pullout of a brigade following by more, gradual troop reductions later in 2008 if US and Iraqi forces can continue to maintain security amid the smaller US commitment.

The Bush administration has recently touted improvements in security in parts of Iraq amid this year's so-called surge, a hike in US troop strength to more than 160,000 in Iraq. The strategy was engineered by Petraeus, who is expected to deliver a much-anticipated assessment of security and political progress in Iraq next week to the US Congress.

Petraeus' testimony and written report along with that of Ryan Crocker, US ambassador in Baghdad, are widely seen as the most politically important of an ongoing series of assessments of the situation in Iraq.

A bleak assessment by Petraeus could further weaken support for Bush's strategy in Iraq and intensify pressure in Congress for a prompt withdrawal.