WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., expects "the vast majority" of U.S. troops to leave Iraq by the end of this year, CBS News reported.
Murtha, who touched off a political firestorm on Capitol Hill last fall when he said U.S. troops should be redeployed from Iraq immediately, said Congress will come under pressure from voters to withdraw troops from Iraq.
"I think the vast majority (of troops) will be out by the end of the year and I'm hopeful they'll be out sooner than that," said Murtha in an interview set to air Sunday on "60 Minutes." Portions of the interview were aired Friday on "The CBS Evening News."
Murtha said President George W. Bush's advisers will urge the president to withdraw troops or risk losing the November congressional elections.
"I think the political people who give him advice will say to him, 'You don't want a Democratic Congress. You want to keep the Republican majority, and the only way you're going to keep it is by reducing substantially the troops in Iraq,'" said Murtha.
Bush has said decisions on troop strength will be based on the advice of military commanders there, not by Washington politics.
