Yet another bit of heartening news out of Iraq, if true:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. commander in Iraq will recommend pulling U.S. troops out of some areas where commanders believe security has improved, the Los Angeles Times said on Wednesday, citing Bush administration officials.

Gen. David Petraeus’s assessment of the situation in Iraq, to be issued in September, is regarded as pivotal amid pressure for President George W. Bush to change course in the conflict.

The newspaper on its Web site said that instead of reducing the overall number of U.S. troops in Iraq, Petraeus could call for them to be moved to other areas or for the creation of a reserve force in case of an increase in violence.

“That is the form of the recommendation we are anticipating him to come back with,” the newspaper quoted a senior administration official as saying.

The implications here are huge.  What General Petraeus is talking about is entire swaths of Iraq being turned over to the Iraqis while US forces concentrate on a few remaining trouble spots and/or more more troops out of harm’s way by putting them into reserve forces.  This would represent, yet again, undeniable progress toward a stable and secure Iraq.

What’s particularly heartening about this is the fact that such pullbacks will give congressional Democrats, beleaguered by the amount of good news coming out of Iraq over the last month, an “out” that will allow them to possibly placate their base by supporting pullbacks without having to fight against the tide of progress in Iraq.