President Bush will keep roughly the same number of U.S. forces in Iraq through the end of the year and pull about 8,000 troops home by February, a drawdown that’s both slower and smaller than long anticipated.

In a speech to be delivered today, Bush says more forces could withdraw in the first half of 2009. But for now, the situation isn’t changing significantly.

By the time the troops return home on the timeline Bush is proposing, someone else will be making the wartime decisions from the Oval Office.

The measured reductions in troops reflect the military’s attempt to protect security gains in Iraq, while also freeing up some added forces in Afghanistan.

The move also shows that Bush still commands when and how troops will withdraw, despite a fiercely opposition Congress and a