The Pentagon on Tuesday issued deployment orders for 26,000 U.S. troops assigned to go to Iraq from this winter to the summer of 2009.

The decision involves threes headquarters and seven brigade combat teams, which will replace some of the units in Iraq.

The Pentagon said in a press release that the move "reflects the continued commitment of the United States to the security of the Iraqi people and provides replacement forces required to maintain the current level of effort in Iraq."

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the plan is in accordance with President George W. Bush's decision on Sept. 9 to withdraw some 8,000 troops from Iraq by next February.

The plan also means the Pentagon is not envisioning any drastic drawdown of military presence in Iraq next year.

According to the plan, after February next year, there will still be 14 combat brigades in Iraq, only one less than the current total of 15 brigades.

But Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has said that he will withdraw all combat troops from Iraq within 16 months after he is elected the next president.

(Xinhua News Agency October 1, 2008)