Bush Has OKd Troop Cuts in Iraq, Rumsfeld Says; Blair Visits Soldiers

President Bush has authorized cutbacks in U.S. combat troops in Iraq, below the 138,000 level that prevailed most of this year, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said today.

Addressing U.S. troops at this former insurgent stronghold, Rumsfeld did not reveal the size of the reduction, but Pentagon officials have said it could be as many as 7,000 combat troops.

Two Army brigades that had been scheduled for combat tours -- one from Ft. Riley, Kan., the other now in Kuwait -- will not deploy to Iraq.

That will bring the number of combat brigades in Iraq to 15, down from 17. Rumsfeld aides said details would be provided later at the Pentagon.

The Pentagon sent an extra 20,000 troops to Iraq to bolster security during the recent elections, and Rumsfeld previously said those 20,000 would be withdrawn in January to return the level to 138,000.

The cuts announced today would push the numbers even lower.

In the southern city of Basra, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said his country could start scaling back its troops in six months.

Most of Britain’s 8,000 troops are stationed near Basra.

Blair, on a surprise trip that was his fourth visit to Iraq, said good progress was being made in training Iraqi security and police forces to protect the country.

After flying low over southern oil fields in a Merlin helicopter, Blair mingled with troops and was serenaded by a group of Fijian soldiers.

He also greeted Iraqi mechanics and engineers before addressing the troops from the top of a mobile tank carrier.

Bush is under growing pressure to pare back U.S. forces in Iraq, where U.S. deaths have surpassed 2,150.

A soldier was killed by a bomb Thursday while on patrol in Baghdad, the military said.

Violence around the country, including a suicide car bombing, left more than a dozen people dead, including six police officers, authorities said.

Rumsfeld met with Gen. George W. Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador. For the first time since the insurgency took hold in midsummer 2003, Rumsfeld was spending the night in the country.

Polish Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz also made a surprise visit to his nation’s troops.

Marcinkiewicz’s government is debating whether to extend the mission of its 1,400 troops. A published report said Marcinkiewicz would extend it.