Troop withdrawal

Last week, the United States handed over responsibility for security in Anbar province to the Iraq government. Two years ago, the province was the scene of some of the bloodiest battles in the war.

Americans were dying there nearly every day. But in the past two years, insurgent attacks have dropped by 90 percent. The transfer of authority puts 11 of Iraq's 18 provinces in the hands of Iraq authorities.

It is this success that cannot be jeopardized by a too-rapid withdrawal of American forces as conditions improve. And for that reason, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus has recommended slowing down troop withdrawals planned for later this year.

The commander has advised President Bush to maintain the 146,000 troops, including 15 combat brigades and support forces, now in the country through the end of his presidency in January. After that, a combat brigade of about 3,500 would be brought home in February with another 3,500 troops from other services and units bringing the total reduction to 7,000.

The recommendation is reportedly a compromise by Gen. Petraeus who had considered maintaining current troop levels in Iraq through June. The Joint Chiefs of Staff had sought a cut of 10,000 troops by the end of the year.

President Bush has said "conditions on the ground" and the advice of military commanders will dictate troop withdrawal in opposition to a definite timetable. His past actions indicate he will do the same with Gen. Petraeus's latest recommendation, which would leave additional troop reductions to his successor.

GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain agrees with President Bush's position on troop withdrawal. Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate, has called for removing all combat forces within 16 months of taking office.

Yet, in an interview with Bill O'Reilly on Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor," Sen. Obama admitted that the surge of 30,000 additional troops last year "has succeeded in ways nobody anticipated" and "beyond our wildest dreams."

But conditions outside U.S. control can change quickly. One apparent reason for a slower reduction was the war in Georgia, which forced it to bring home about 2,000 of its soldiers to defend against the Russian invasion.

In his televised comments, Sen. Obama also took note of the failure of Iraqis to achieve political reconciliation among feuding groups. Provincial elections planned for October have been delayed, possibly until December.

Gen. Petraeus's recommendations still allow for the troop reduction schedule to be modified as political and military conditions permit.