WASHINGTON: Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama reportedly told the top military commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus,  that some U.S. forces should be pulled out of Iraq and deployed to Afghanistan when the two met in July in Baghdad.

At the July meeting, Petraeus did not disclose his opinion on moving troops from one war to the other, according to an article in the Sept. 8 edition of The New Yorker magazine. The Taliban-led insurgency has dramatically increased attacks on U.S. and Afghan forces in recent months.

But Iraq war commander Gen. David Petraeus will soon be in a position to oversee such a move if President Bush decides to shift some forces.

Petraeus takes over U.S. Central Command in September where he will have responsibility for military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and the Middle East. In the meantime, he is expected to recommend a modest cut in troop levels in Iraq to the president in the next few weeks, a reflection of the improved security situation.

There are currently 15 combat brigades in Iraq and a total of 146,000 troops, including tens of thousands that perform support, rather than direct combat, functions.