WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush could announce as soon as Tuesday that he wants to withdraw one combat brigade of about 4,000 troops from Iraq early next year, leaving force levels largely unchanged until he leaves office.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino would not comment onthe substance of Bush's plan but said it would likely beannounced this week.
"I think it's probable that you'll hear it this week,possibly as early as tomorrow -- I should say likely, evenprobable tomorrow," Perino said on Monday.
Top U.S. defence officials recommended the plan to Bushlast week. Pentagon sources have said the plan includeswithdrawing one combat brigade from Iraq early next year.
Bush, who has seen his job approval rating sink because ofthe prolonged war, could to make his announcement when hespeaks at the National Defence University in Washington at 9:55a.m. EDT (1355 GMT) on Tuesday.
There are 146,000 troops in Iraq and 33,000 in Afghanistan.U.S. Army combat brigades in Iraq typically have around 3,500to 4,000 soldiers, according to defence officials.
Three Pentagon sources told Reuters last week that ArmyGen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, had agreed toshift from 15 brigades to 14 in that war zone. Two sources saidthe change would not take place until early next year.
Additionally, according to a senior U.S. defence official,one Marine battalion would be withdrawn from Iraq and itsreplacement would go this November to Afghanistan where Talibanand al Qaeda militant attacks on U.S.-led coalition forces haveincreased over two years.
While violence in Iraq has dropped dramatically in the pastyear, the proposed cutback is smaller than some analysts hadpredicted, reflecting caution on the part of Petraeus, who isanxious not to jeopardize security gains.
Already, the Pentagon has withdrawn five combat brigadesfrom Iraq this year after a "surge" strategy that added morethan 30,000 troops to Iraq.
The White House on Monday defended that surgestrategystrategy despitedespite the reported resistance fromtop military leaders.
U.S. journalist Bob Woodward wrote in a new book titled"The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008," thatsome members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and commanders inIraq disagreed with sending more troops to the war.
"I think that the surge is no doubt one of the mostimportant foreign policy and military decisions that have beenmade in a generation, and it was fundamental to the change thatwe have seen today in Iraq," Perino said.
"We are working now to cement those gains and to be able tocontinue to watch Iraq evolve into a country that can sustain,govern and defend itself," she said.
(Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky and Andrew Gray, editing byKristin Roberts and Jackie Frank)
