In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, General David Petraeus offered some insight into his thinking on troop withdrawals but said he isn't ready to make recommendations to the White House.
The commander said any future drawdown would be designed to ensure the U.S. maintained its recent security gains and could prevent insurgents from returning to areas vacated by U.S. forces.
The U.S. would seek to pull out of areas only that are free of violence or protected by capable Iraqi security forces or tribal allies, he said. U.S. forces would likely remain -- albeit, in smaller numbers than today -- in restive parts of the country or in areas that lack strong Iraqi military or police units.
"We want to maintain the gains that have been made and, in fact, to build on them," he said.
Although he described the situation as going from "bad to less bad" he remains optimistic.
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