President Bush effectively handed responsibility for the Iraq war to his successor yesterday by announcing that he will leave office with at least 138,000 US troops still deployed in the country. Making perhaps his last big announcement about a war that has inflicted such damage on his presidency, he said that he would pull out only 8,000 troops in the coming months, leaving his successor with an American military presence in Iraq greater than two years ago.

He defended his decision to leave US troop levels higher than last year’s pre-surge number of 135,000 because the progress in Iraq was still “fragile and reversible”.

Mr Bush, whose decision was denounced by Democrats, including Barack Obama, said that he would be sending an additional 4,500 troops to Afghanistan, where a resurgent Taleban and al-Qaeda have greatly increased violence in recent months.

He described the increase of soldiers there as a “quiet surge”, bringing the US presence to 31,000, compared with 146,000 in Iraq at present.

“Here is the bottom line: while the enemy in Iraq is still dangerous, we have seized the offensive, and Iraqi forces are becoming increasingly capable of leading and winning the fight,” he said. Mr Bush, speaking to the National Defence University in Washington, added that the progress in Iraq had been unimaginable two years ago. He lavished praise on US troops and, as he often does at such moments, had difficulty in controlling his emotions.

Mr Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, who is advocating a phased withdrawal of US combat troops over 16 months — but has become more nuanced on such a timetable in recent weeks — described the the drawdown as very modest.

He said that Mr Bush’s plan would extend a “war without end” and give

“Iraqis a blank cheque instead of pressing them to reconcile their differences”.

He also tried to tie John McCain, his Republican opponent, to how the war in Iraq had been conducted. “President Bush’s speech underscored that we cannot afford more of the same,” Mr Obama said.

Harry Reid, the Democrats’ Senate Leader, said: “I am stunned that President Bush has decided to bring so few troops home from Iraq and send so few resources to Afghanistan.”

Mr Bush said that a Marines battalion would be deployed to Afghanistan in November, to be followed by an army combat unit in January. “Afghanistan’s success is critical to the security of America and our partners in the free world. And for all the good work we have done in that country, it is clear we must do even more.”

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