President Bush considering Iraq troop levels, with Afghanistan's needs looming

President Bush is mulling just how many U.S. troops will be in Iraq in the final months of his White House tenure.

Drawing to a halt the drawdown of five brigades at the start of the summer, Gen. David H. Petraeus, the U.S. ground commander in Iraq who is about to take over as chief of the U.S. Central Command, sought 45 days to assess the impact of the reductions.

That period is over, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino noted today, and the president's two top military advisors -- Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates -- have presented Petraeus' recommendations to Bush.

"The president is now considering his options," Perino told reporters today.

Gates and Mullen are scheduled to deliver congressional testimony next week -- but will not necessarily present the president's decision at that time, she said.

Bottom line: With pressure to increase the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan -- and Iraq the most likely place to find them -- the decision will have an impact on two wars.

-- James Gerstenzang

Photo: Mauricio Lima / AFP/Getty Images