White House confirms Iraq troop-cut option

WASHINGTON - The White House confirmed today that the top US military commander in Iraq has drafted a plan for withdrawing American troops but said the proposal was just one option.

President George W Bush, who met General George Casey last week, reiterated that any decision on troop reductions would be based on the situation in Iraq, where a violent insurgency persists more than three years after the US-led invasion.

Bush says that US troops -- about 127,000 in Iraq -- will not step down until Iraqi forces are able to take over security for their country.

"But in terms of our troop presence there, that decision will be made by General Casey as well as the sovereign government of Iraq based upon conditions on the ground," Bush said to reporters.

The New York Times reported at the weekend that Casey had drafted a plan that would reduce US troops in September by two of the current 14 combat brigades in Iraq, and then cut to a total of five or six brigades by the end of 2007. A brigade generally has about 3500 troops.

Democrats reacted angrily, saying the Casey plan appeared similar to their calls for the administration to draw up a timetable for troop withdrawal, and for which Republicans had accused them of wanting to "cut and run."

Rep Nancy Pelosi of California, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, said the Bush administration now was planning reductions just before the November midterm congressional elections.

"Instead of offering real strategies for success, Republicans continue to play politics with this war," she said.

But White House spokesman Tony Snow said it was different, and with Democrats "there was no talk about victory strategy, there was no talk about working with the Iraqi government, it was just we need a phased redeployment, get out."

Bush said any recommendation by Casey "will be aimed toward achieving victory." He defined victory as a free government able to sustain itself, defend itself, be an ally of the United States in fighting terrorism and able to fight al Qaeda.

Snow stressed that Casey had not made a firm recommendation about troops to Bush and had laid out more than one option.

"General Casey is assigned the business of making a lot of plans and this is one of the plans that is under consideration," Snow said.

"But for anybody who thinks that this is engraved in stone, it is not," he said.

Public scepticism about the Iraq war, in which more than 2,500 American troops have died, helped drive down Bush's job approval ratings.

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 47 per cent of those surveyed favoured setting a deadline for troops to withdraw, up eight percentage points since December. While 51 per cent opposed a firm timetable, down from 60 per cent.

Senate Democrats seized on the timing of Casey's plan, noting they had spent recent days in Iraq war debates calling for troop withdrawals, and being rebuffed by Republicans.

"Do they believe that what Gen Casey is suggesting is defeatist, do they believe that Gen Casey is unpatriotic?" Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said.

- REUTERS