US President George W Bush has said that the US remains on track to complete the withdrawal of some 20,000 troops from Iraq by the middle of the year.
However, further reductions will depend on the advice of military commanders there.
He was addressing US troops in Kuwait on his Middle East tour.
Mr Bush said security had greatly improved in Iraq but he added that American forces would have a long-term engagement in Iraq and that there was no doubt in his mind that the US would succeed in defeating terrorism.
Mr Bush was later welcomed by leaders in Bahrain, although about 250 demonstrators took to the streets.
Mr Bush was greeted at the airport by King Hamad, who led a red-carpet welcome for the first US president to visit the small Gulf kingdom which serves as home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet.
Mr Bush, who flew in from Kuwait, was later honoured at an official greeting ceremony at one of the royal palaces, where King Hamad hailed the United States as a friend, an ally and a partner.
