Gen. David Petraeus prepares to talk about the future of the war in Iraq to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Bush Says Some Troops May Come Home by March, but Majority Will Remain in Iraq

President George Bush says American troops will remain in Iraq when the next president takes office. Bush ended hopes for a quick pullout of troops from the Middle Eastern nation. His comments came after the head of the U.S. military in Iraq presented a long-awaited report on the war's progress to Congress.

The United States is scheduled to elect a new president in November 2008. Bush's term in office ends in January 2009.

Almost 3,800 American troops have been killed since the war started four-and-a-half years ago. Major combat ended months after the war started. Most of the Americans killed in recent years died in small scale attacks.
More than 160,000 American troops are now in Iraq. Bush announced plans late last year to send another 30,000 troops for about six months. The plan was called a "surge" in troops.

Attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq still too common
The surge was intended to help reduce the daily level of violence in Iraq. Bush and other leaders say killings among various religious groups and attacks on U.S. troops are still too common.
Bush announced his plan to stay in Iraq in a speech to the American people. The speech was broadcast on national television September 13.

Earlier in the week, the solider in charge of troops in Iraq reported to Congress. General David Petraeus testified before committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Petraeus said some troops can start coming home before the end of this year. But he declined to say if the levels could drop by next summer to the 130,000 troops there before the surge. He said it is too soon to tell.

Iraqi leaders must fix religious problems
Petraeus said the solution is having the Iraqi government fix political problems between various religious groups.
"We are not going to kill our way out of all these problems in Iraq," Petraeus said.

Progress has been made in Anbar province, the general said. People in Anbar province used to fight American troops. But they are now fighting against terrorists groups, including al-Qaida.

Al-Qaida is the terrorist group that attacked the U.S. on September 11, 2001. However, al-Qaida was not operating in Iraq until after the war started. Iraq did not have anything to do with the 9-11 attacks on the New York Trade Towers. Al-Qaida has since added to the problems in Iraq.

Bush has said the surge has made Iraq safer. But he and others say the Iraqi national government has not shown it is taking steps needed to govern properly. The Petraeus report did not show enough progress on major points of the war. In fact, August was one of the bloodiest months of the war.

Democrats and some Republicans in Congress are pressing Bush for a faster withdrawal of troops. Bush is a Republican.

Democrats hold more than half of the seats in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. However, they do not have enough votes to force the president to withdraw troops.

Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island gave the Democratic response to Bush's speech. Reed said the plan "does not amount to real change." Reed said the president again failed to provide a plan to successfully end the war or a convincing reason to continue it.