From Yahoo News
By Deb Riechmann and Robert Burns

President Bush, after hearing from top U.S. and Iraqi leaders, said Monday that some U.S. troops could be sent home if security conditions across Iraq continue to improve as they have in this former hotbed of Sunni insurgency.

But the president, flanked by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, did not say how many troops could be withdrawn or how soon.

Bush spoke after hearing from Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and U.S. ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker, who are testifying to Congress next week assessing the president’s troop buildup.

“Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker tell me if the kind of success we’re now seeing continues, it will be possible to maintain the same level of security with fewer American forces,” Bush said.

Bush stood in front of two Humvees near a dusty tarmac of this desert outpost in western Iraq, about 120 miles west of Baghdad, to share his latest views about the war. He urged Congress to wait until they hear testimony from Crocker and Petraeus and see a White House progress report due by Sept. 15 before judging the result of his decision to send an extra 30,000 troops to Iraq.

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