US Army General David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, said today he expected to make further troop cuts after a 45-day freeze in withdrawals that begins in July.
Gen Petraeus also told senators considering his nomination to the US military's top Middle East post that Iran was a destabilizing influence in the region. But he backed US efforts to use diplomatic and economic pressure on Tehran, saying military action was a last resort.
General David Petraeus testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill today
Gen Petraeus also endorsed US intelligence estimates that al-Qaeda leaders are based in tribal areas of Pakistan and any future attack on the United States was likely to originate there. He pledged more help for Pakistan's government.
Following a tour in Iraq marked by a steep decline in violence, Gen Petraeus is slated to take over US Central Command, responsible for military operations in an unstable swath of the world including the Middle East, Central Asia and East Africa. He has been in his current post since February 2007.
He is overseeing a reduction in US forces in Iraq to leave around 140,000 troops there by mid-July. He said he expected to recommend resuming withdrawals after taking stock until around the beginning of September.
"My sense is that I will be able to make a recommendation at that time for some further reductions," he said, although he could not predict the size of any further troop cut.
The United States has some 155,000 troops in Iraq, more than five years after the start of a war which is now broadly unpopular with the US public and is likely to be a key issue in the presidential and congressional elections this November.
At the US Army's Fort Bragg base in North Carolina today, President George W. Bush defended his decision to invade Iraq. "The terrorists and extremists are on the run and we are on our way to victory," he said.
Also today, the US Senate passed an additional $165 billion in spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That would take the total spent on the conflicts to more than $800 billion, most of it for Iraq.