General George Casey, speaking via video-link from Baghdad, said he expected US troops levels to drop from about 150,000 currently to 138,000 by the end of January.

"And then, as I've said all along, we just had the elections, we're doing our assessments, and I'll make some recommendations in the comings weeks here about whether I think it's prudent to go below the baseline that you spoke of," he said.

Political pressure has been growing here for deeper cuts in US force levels in Iraq amid ebbing public support for the war.

Casey warned that the insurgency will not end quickly despite the heavy turnout and lower levels of violence in Thursday's elections.

He said he expected insurgents to resume attacks to try to discredit the political process and show that they remain a force to be reckoned with.

"But I think what you'll see is folks trying to use both means to achieve their ends and not renouncing violence totally but also working within the political process," he said.

"So it'll be a much more complicated situation," he said.

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