On September 9, 2008 (August 10, 2008 in the lunar calendar), Bush announced that more than 8,000 troops would be withdrawn from Iraq. On September 9, 2008, US President Bush gave a speech at the National Defense University in Washington. In his speech on the same day, Bush announced that more than 8,000 US troops would be withdrawn from Iraq in batches. He said that according to this decision, the number of US troops in Iraq will be basically unchanged this year, except that about 1,000 troops will be withdrawn from Iraq in November this year. In February next year, the US troops in Iraq will withdraw a combat brigade and other auxiliary forces totaling more than 7,000. At the same time, he will send about 4,500 more troops to Afghanistan in January next year. Bush will leave office in January next year, which is likely to be the last time he will make a decision on the withdrawal of troops. He also said that if the situation in Iraq further improves, the United States may withdraw more troops from Iraq in the first half of next year, but this decision will be made by the next president. Recently, there have been growing calls in the United States to speed up the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and expand the increase in troops in Afghanistan. At present, the total number of US troops in Iraq is about 146,000.