---President George W Bush will this week announce he plans to reduce US troops in Iraq by about 30,000 by next summer, White House officials say.
The cuts, with conditions attached, will be announced by the president in a major TV address. The move would bring the number of US troops in Iraq to "pre-surge" levels.
President Bush will make the speech on Thursday night at 2100 local time. The White House says it will contain an endorsement of the troop reduction proposed by Gen David Petraeus, who has been testifying in Congress on Monday and Tuesday. However, Mr Bush is expected to condition his plans - and also further troop cuts - on continued progress in Iraq.
The BBC's Justin Webb, in Washington, says the president's move is an attempt to seize the initiative and to give the impression - whether true or not - that he is driving events.
Surge hearings
Gen Petraeus - and also US envoy in Iraq Ryan Crocker - faced severe criticism during the two days of their testimony in Congress from lawmakers opposed to the war.
Sen Joseph Biden (D) - who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee - said on Tuesday that the surge had failed to promote reconciliation between Sunnis and Shia, and was at best "a stopgap that will not prevent chaos".
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) said: "It sounds to me as if Gen Petraeus is presenting a plan for at least a 10-year, high-level US presence in Iraq."
Gen Petraeus said that violence in Iraq had declined significantly since February, but stressed that a premature troop reduction would have "devastating consequences".
A record 168,000 US troops are now in Iraq after 30,000 arrived in the surge between February and June.
Was this really the plan or is he giving ground to try and placate Congress? Is next summer soon enough? It does sound like it'll make it harder for the Democrats to persue a 'bring the troops home' agenda, since Bush will cast himself as being reasonable and the Democracts for demanding the impossible. BTW bonus story;
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---Rocket injures dozens in Israel
[img=right]http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/4 ... map203.gif[/img]The Israeli government has vowed to respond to the rocket strike
At least 69 Israeli soldiers were injured when a rocket fired from Gaza exploded in an army camp in southern Israel, the military has said. The rocket hit an equipment store at the Zikkim training base, sending shrapnel flying through surrounding tents where soldiers were sleeping.
Four of the wounded soldiers were in a serious condition, the military said. In addition to the four soldiers said to be in a serious condition, a further seven have been described by the military as moderately wounded.
It is the largest number of injuries sustained in a single rocket attack against Israel from Gaza. The wounded soldiers were all recent recruits undergoing basic training. Correspondents say both the government and the army will come under strong pressure to retaliate forcefully.
Two Palestinian militant groups claimed responsibility for the attack - Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees. Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for the Islamist Hamas movement, which seized control of Gaza in June, called the rocket attack a "victory from God".
A spokesman for the Israeli foreign ministry, Mark Regev, told the BBC that his country would respond to the strike. "We pulled out of the Gaza Strip two years ago, we took down all of the settlements, we pulled out all our military personnel, we ended the military occupation and these extremists who are shooting rockets really have no positive agenda. It's just nihilism."
Tough questions
The BBC's Joe Floto in Jerusalem says the Israeli authorities will be looking urgently at two questions. The first and most immediate is why its soldiers were housed under canvas in an area prone to this kind of attack. The second will be much harder to address - how to prevent Palestinian militant groups from firing their rockets into Israel. Last year the Israeli army carried out a five-month offensive inside Gaza to do just that. Hundreds of Palestinians were killed in the operation.
Is that 'we pulled out of Gaza, they have no reason to shoot at us' line correct? If so is this just a foreign-funded effort to force the IDF into another embarassing 'clearance' operation where they get to try and pick off Merkavas with ATGMs?
