Bush raises prospect of Iraq troop cuts

By Matt Spetalnick and Andrew Gray

AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush raised the prospect of troop cuts in Iraq after meeting top commanders at a desert air base on Monday but said any reduction must be made from a position of strength.

Bush's visit came days before his leading officials in Iraq deliver a pivotal assessment report to the Democrat-controlled Congress. He said deployment of 30,000 extra troops, decried by Democrat critics as a failure, had eased violence in some areas.

"Those decisions (on troop levels) will be based on a calm assessment by military commanders on conditions on the ground, not a nervous reaction by Washington politicians to poll results and the media," he told hundreds of cheering Marines.

"When we begin to draw down troops in Iraq it will be from a position of strength and success, not from the position of fear and failure. To do otherwise would embolden our enemies and make it more likely that they would attack us at home."

Bush flew into Iraq's western Anbar province, choosing the former Sunni Arab insurgent stronghold once considered a lost cause to showcase what he said was one of the main success stories of his new military strategy.

He met U.S. commander General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker to get his own assessment of how the troop increase was working ahead of their report to Congress on September 10. U.S. commanders have said levels of violence are down but that more time is needed to consolidate their gains.

"General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker tell me if the kind of success we are seeing continues, it will be possible to maintain the same level of security with fewer American forces," Bush told reporters travelling with him.

Bush also held what he called "good, frank" talks with leaders of Iraq's Shi'ite Muslim, Sunni Arab and Kurdish communities, including Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who have made little progress towards national reconciliation.