US Defence Secretary Robert Gates raised the possibility of cutting the size of the US force in Iraq beyond the 30,000 slated to leave Iraq by the end of next summer.

Gates said General David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, will issue a March report on how many forces will be needed in the country and hoped the security situation make it possible to reduce the US presence to about 100,000 by January 2009.

"That would be the math," Gates told reporters one day after US President George W Bush endorsed Petraeus recommendation to reduce the US force to 130,000 by mid-July.

"My hope is that when he does his assessment in March, that General Petraeus will be able to say that he thinks that the pace of drawdowns can continue at the same rate in the second half of the year, as in the first half of the year," Gates said. "That's my hope."

Bush's term ends in January 2009 but he said in a speech Thursday night that the US military will have a role in Iraq after he leaves office and urged Americans to remain committed to the struggling Iraqi government. dpa mm cc