(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-04-10 15:06

Petraeus wants the US to complete, by the end of July, the withdrawal of the 20,000 troops that were sent to Iraq last year to deal with the violence there. Beyond that, the general proposed a 45-day evaluation period, to be followed by an indefinite period of assessment before he would recommend any further pullouts.

The plan leaves open the possibility that roughly 140,000 US troops will be in Iraq when voters head to the polls this November and Bush leaves office next year.

"We think it makes sense to have some time, to let the dust settle, perhaps to do some adjustment of forces, re-evaluation," Petraeus told House members on Wednesday.

When asked by Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, whether he would call for another influx of US troops if security conditions deteriorated during that 45-day window, Petraeus said that would be a last resort.

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"That would be a pretty remote thought in my mind," he said.

Instead, the military would try to reallocate existing troops. It also would increase its reliance on Iraqi forces, including highly specialized army and police teams that have been improving in capability, he said.

As on Tuesday, Petraeus faced Democrats and even some Republicans who said they were skeptical Baghdad was doing all it could to calm sectarian violence.

Lacking the votes to order troops home, Democrats plan to push legislation this spring that would force the Iraqi government to spend its own surplus in oil revenues to rebuild the country, sparing US dollars.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he would introduce legislation that would require the Iraqi government pay "for the cost of the security that we're providing them." Under his bill, the stipulation would be written into a legal agreement currently being negotiated with Baghdad on the US military presence in Iraq, called a "status of forces agreement."

"The American people can't carry this load forever, so we're looking forward to a time when someone else can pick up some of it," said Rohrabacher, R-Calif.

Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador in Iraq, said some political progress has been made, but he acknowledged it was slow. Asked what would happen if US troops were to leave in large numbers in the next six months, the ambassador said, "You would see a spiral down, and that would lead to expanded sectarian conflict, levels we have not seen before."

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