The top U.S. general in Iraq says American troops could start drawing down there next year.

"If the political process continues to go positively and if the development of the security forces continues to go as it is going, I do believe that we will be able to make some pretty substantial reductions after these elections in the spring and summer of next year," Gen. George Casey said Wednesday in Baghdad.

His words came after Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari called for a speedy withdrawal of U.S. troops from the troubled nation.

"The great desire of the Iraqi people is to see the coalition forces on their way out," he said at a joint news conference in Baghdad with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

However, al-Jaafari said there was no specific timetable for that to occur.

Rumsfeld didn't comment on al-Jaafari's remarks, but did say Iraq needed to take more responsibility for guarding the more than 15,000 prisoners currently being held by the U.S.

Rumsfeld said Iraq should meet the Aug. 15 deadline for drafting a new constitution.

"It would be very harmful to the momentum that's necessary" if the constitution is not finished on time, he said.

The Iraq political timetable:

• August: Complete draft constitution
• September: National referendum on constitution
• December: Elections
• January 2006: Permanent Iraqi government sworn in

Ret. Col. Michel Drapeau told CTV News the U.S. hints about a wind-down came as a bit of a surprise.

"From day one, President George Bush said he was going to be in there for the long run and most certainly he would install a democratic government ... and fundamentally bring Iraq into the new century," Drapeau said. "None of this has happened."

And work on Iraq's future is a risky business.

Working on the constitution puts one at risk of assassination -- as three Sunni Muslim politicians learned on July 19. The Sunni committee members temporarily withdrew but have since returned.

The insurgency is growing in savagery and is hammering at Iraqi security forces in the process.

Suicide car bombings routinely target Iraqi police. A recent report by the U.S. found that insurgents and criminals are among those joining the ranks of the new Iraq police.

Only about half of the 60,000 police trained so far are capable of battling insurgents effectively. The U.S. is planning to develop a 135,000-member Iraqi police force.

There are currently about 135,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, plus personnel from other coalition countries.

The death toll for U.S. troops since the U.S.-led invasion happened in March 2003 now totals more than 1,780.

Domestically, more than half of Americans polled by Ipsos in early July for The Associated Press disapproved of the U.S. government's handling of the Iraq war.

Thirty-seven per cent want U.S. troops home immediately.

"The president wants to see our troops come home, but we've got an important mission that we need to complete," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Wednesday, adding U.S. President George W. Bush depends on his commanders on the ground to say what they need in terms of troop strength.

U.S. defense officials said spring or summer was mentioned because time is needed to assess the effects of the December elections on the insurgency and to see how Iraq's security forces are coming along.

On the U.S. political calendar, however, Congressional elections loom next fall.

With a report from CTV's Joy Malbon