Troop Cut Expected After Iraq Report

AP
May 27, 2007 04:10 PM EST

WASHINGTON — A conservative Republican senator said Sunday most lawmakers believe President Bush will focus on reducing U.S. troops in Iraq once a top general reports in September on the war's progress.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said any reduction will have to await a much anticipated report by Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, who will tell the president and Congress whether the current troop increase is working.

"By September, when General Petraeus is to make a report, I think most of the people in Congress believe, unless something extraordinary occurs, that we should be on a move to draw those surge numbers down," Sessions said.

Sessions' comment followed the recent statement by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who said Friday, "I think that the handwriting is on the wall that we are going in a different direction in the fall, and I expect the president to lead it."