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General: Spring withdrawals possible

In an e-mail, Gen. David Petraeus said he doesn't envision the U.S. needing more troops.

WASHINGTON - Previewing a widely anticipated report to Congress, the top U.S. commander in Iraq says that some troop withdrawals may be possible next spring and that the troop buildup of recent months has failed to yield political reform in Baghdad.

"It has not worked out as we had hoped," Gen. David Petraeus wrote in a letter to U.S. forces Friday summarizing the results of the troop increase President Bush ordered last winter.

Petraeus wrote that U.S. military forces have chalked up significant gains in recent months. "In fact, the number of attacks across the country has declined in eight of the past 11 weeks, reaching during the last week in August a level not seen since June 2006."

At the same time, he told those under his command they "operate against a backdrop of limited Iraqi government capacity, institutions trying to rebuild and various forms of corruption."

The letter dovetailed with an e-mail message to the Boston Globe in which Petraeus said he expects that some troops scheduled to return home in the spring could leave Iraq without replacements.

"The bottom line is that ... I do not envision that the U.S. would need to send more troops," he said, adding that commanders are planning for how remaining troops will be deployed around Iraq "as the surge of forces inevitably runs its course."

The general is scheduled to make a formal report to Bush and appear before congressional committees starting Monday.

The United States' troop numbers have climbed to a record 168,000 and are moving toward a peak of 172,000.

Fast facts

Developments on Friday

U.S. deaths: The U.S. military announced the deaths of four Marines and three soldiers in combat, including four in Anbar province, the Sunni stronghold where U.S. officials say a tribal revolt against al-Qaida in Iraq has brought dramatic improvements in security. Those deaths raised to at least 3,760 the number of members of the U.S. military who have died since March 2003, according to the Associated Press.

British death: Britain's Defense Ministry announced that a British soldier was killed two days earlier. News of the death had been kept secret for security reasons.

Violence: Insurgents in Anbar province blew up two suspension bridges on the main highway leading to Jordan and Saudi Arabia, a police intelligence officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

[Last modified September 8, 2007, 00:47:43]