WASHINGTON, March 30 (Xinhuanet) -- US commanders could recommend a significant reduction of American troops in Iraq if violence is low through the remaining of the year, a top general said Wednesday.

    Air Force Lieutenant General Lance Smith, deputy commander of US Central Command, told Pentagon reporters that said General George Casey, the commander of US forces in Iraq, would come up with plans early this summer for a possible drawdown.

    But he said the decision would be mainly linked to the political development in Iraq and the progress made in the training of Iraqi security forces.

    US President George W. Bush has refused to set a timetable for the US withdrawal, saying the troops would not leave Iraq until Iraqi security forces were capable of defending itself.

    About 140,000 Iraqi soldiers and police have received training and equipment, but the Bush administration has expressed disappointment over their performance.

    General Richard Cody, the Army's vice chief of staff, said earlier this month that the US Army expected to reduce its troop levels in Iraq gradually starting this summer, but no significant reduction is likely until sometime between 2006 and 2008.

    Cody said when the military starts its next round of rotation in the summer, the number of American troops is expected to go down from 138,000. There are about 145,500 US troops in Iraq now, with about 7,500 were scheduled to go home in the coming weeks. Enditem