Withdraw all the troops now

The Iraq Study Group led by the former US secretary of state James Baker and the former Democratic congressman Lee Hamilton is to recommend a gradual withdrawal of US combat troops from Iraq.

"It’s a step," said George Galloway, "but not a quick enough step. US and British troops are only exacerbating the crisis and should be withdrawn now."

According to the New York Times, the 10-member bipartisan panel has reached a consensus, after eight months of discussions, that the US should wind down its military commitment and make clear the US troop presence is not open-ended. The US currently has around 140,000 troops in Iraq.

Crucially, the panel avoided a specific timetable for withdrawal - something the Democrats on the panel wanted but the president strongly opposes.

However, the report, to be delivered next Wednesday, is to recommend that a military withdrawal start relatively soon, next year being the implicit message.

President Bush is under no obligation to accept the recommendations of the Baker group, a congressional initiative, and a Pentagon review contains an option for one last big push with a temporary increase of at least 20,000 troops before a drastic scaling down. But with Iraq in civil war, or something very much like it, public support for the American effort is ebbing fast, a point brought forcefully home by the poor Republican showing in this month's midterm elections.