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Bush: Generals, Iraqis will decide troop strengthWhite House says reported pullout plan 'under consideration'
 President Bush says Gen. George Casey and the Iraqi government will decide future U.S. troop presence. SPECIAL REPORT
• Interactive: Who's who in Iraq
• Interactive: Sectarian divide
• Timeline: Bloodiest days for civilians
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSWASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush said Monday the U.S. troop presence in Iraq will be determined by military commanders, the Iraqi government and "conditions on the ground." Bush's remarks followed a New York Times report Sunday that Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, plans to send home about 7,000 of the 127,000 American troops there by September without replacing them. About 30,000 additional troops -- eight or nine brigades -- would leave by the end of 2007, the Times reported, citing unnamed U.S. officials. A typical brigade consists of roughly 3,500 troops. White House press secretary Tony Snow said Casey's outline is "one of the plans that's under consideration," since "Casey is assigned the business of making a lot of plans." Responding to a reporter's question about the Times' report, Bush said, "In terms of our presence there, that decision will be made by General Casey as well as the sovereign government of Iraq based upon conditions on the ground." Bush said Casey's recommendation would strive for victory, which the president defined as "a free government that is able to sustain itself, defend itself" and that "will be an ally in the war on terror." Bush was tight-lipped about his meeting with Casey on Friday. The president said only that the two discussed a joint operation with the Iraqi forces to stabilize Baghdad, actions they are taking to secure Ramadi, west of the capital, and the training of Iraqi forces. He added that once the "Iraqis stand up the coalition will be able to stand down." Military sources told CNN last week that Casey was considering pulling 6,000 to 10,000 troops out of Iraq as part of a reduction, but neither the general nor Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld would confirm such a plan. In a Monday press conference, Snow said a number of plans for the Iraq war are being generated, because in a time of war there is not a single "monolithic" plan. For anyone who thinks that this is "engraved in stone, it is not," he said. Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki included a U.S. withdrawal among the elements of a national reconciliation proposal he outlined Sunday, but it sets no timetable. (Full story) That drew criticism Monday from Iraq's top Sunni Arab politician, Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, who told Reuters, "Leaving the issue of a timetable [for U.S. withdrawal] vague is telling the resistance: 'Continue your fighting to liberate Iraq.' " Reid: 'Republicans stand alone'In Congress, talk about the reported U.S. withdrawal plan continued Monday. "I would like the Senate to note how similar General Casey's apparent plan to withdraw U.S. forces is to the plan put forward by Senate Democrats last week," said Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada. He was referring to a proposal for a limited withdrawal to begin by the end of 2006 put forward by Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee. The proposal was knocked down by a 60-39 vote. "Congressional Republicans stand alone in opposition to troop redeployments -- apart from the American people, apart from our military commanders and apart from the Iraqi government," Reid said. "Do they disagree with General Casey that we need to begin ending the open ended commitment in Iraq? Do they still believe a plan for reducing our troops levels is defeatist and unpatriotic?" Reid said. "Do they have a plan now? Or do they still want to 'stay the course?' " Another proposal, backed by Democratic Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, would have required a U.S. withdrawal by July 2007. It failed on a 86-13 vote. U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said any discussion of withdrawing troops "by particular numbers within a particular time frame is premature." "For the redeployments to occur, there has to be an agreement between us and the Iraqi government," he told CNN. "The discussions about that have not started yet." But, Khalilzad said, when Casey returns from Washington, those discussions will begin, starting with talks with al-Maliki and the establishment of a joint committee to study the situation. 
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