What is the reason for reducing troops in Iraq?

President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today the number of U.S. troops in Iraq might be able to be reduced, because conditions in Iraq have dramatically improved. At the White House today, President Bush said he’ll make a final decision on troop cuts, once General David Petraeus makes recommendations next month. At a Pentagon briefing, Gates says the desire to increase U.S. troops in Afghanistan will not affect whether troops leave Iraq. "General Petraeus’s timeline is tied strictly to Iraq, and has nothing to do with, as far as I know, nothing to do with Afghanistan." Meanwhile, in eastern Afghanistan today, government and US-led forces are in the third day of fierce battles against Taliban militants.