ARAB-US RELATIONS - Sept 7 - Petraeus Weighs Iraq Troop Reduction.

The top US commander in Iraq General David Petraeus, will consider withdrawing about 4,000 troops from Iraq early next year to ease concerns of lawmakers on Capitol Hill. The New York Times reported on Friday that while Gen Petraeus wants sufficient troops to maintain the recent security gains in Iraq, he was willing to draw down one brigade to assauge the concerns of lawmakers who want to see US troops start to return home. Gen Petraeus has become the subject of intense scrutiny ahead of his long-awaited assessment of the military "surge" to Congress. Since the contours of his recommendations have already emerged in leaks this week, his appearance on Capitol Hill should be more revealing about where lawmakers stand on Iraq. Over the summer, clear signs have emerged of improved security in Iraq, prompting some Democrats to be more cautious about seeking an immediate withdrawal, and instead seeking a consensus with Republicans, such as John Warner, the respected Virginia senator, who have expressed concerns about the White House policy on Iraq. Other Democrats, however, point to a series of recent reports that have concluded that the Iraqi government has made no progress towards implementing the political reconciliation which the surge was designed to help achieve. The Government Accountability Office, the oversight arm of Congress, concluded that the Iraqi government had met only three out of 18 political and security benchmarks. The White House has refused to be drawn on the growing drumbeat of speculation. Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the White House national security council, said it was "premature to speculate on their final recommendations or on the President's pending decision". By keeping silent, the White House has sought to keep the focus on Bush's upbeat visit to Iraq, when he touted signs of increasing security and said it might soon be possible to reduce troop numbers if progress continued. While Bush touted the security gains in Baghdad and Anbar province, an independent commission of senior retired military and police officers this week concluded that the Iraqi security forces would be unable to operate independently of US troops over the next 18 months. Earlier this week, Gen Petraeus conceded that the surge would end around March. Senior military officers have for months argued that the surge could not be sustained beyond April without extending troop rotations, which would pose a huge strain on the already stretched US forces. As the surge winds down, the debate in Washington is expected to shift to the question of what happens after April. While Gen Petraeus appears to want to maintain troop numbers at the pre-surge level of about 130,000, some senior military officers, including General Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, are pushing for larger reductions.