Britain says it will withdraw its remaining forces in Iraq to Kuwait, after the Iraqi parliament failed to pass a deal allowing the British troops to stay beyond the end of the month.

President Barack Obama is telling the Associated Press that he always has reserved the right to adjust the U.S. troop withdrawal timetable in Iraq based on changing circumstances. But he says he’s confident the U.S. will be able to abide by agreements it made with Iraqis.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he thinks it would be a good idea to keep a small number of U.S. forces in Iraq past a deadline agreed to by the U.S. and Iraq.

President Barack Obama has called former President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to brief them on his plans to withdraw troops from Iraq.

President Barack Obama plans to withdraw all U.S. combat forces from Iraq by the end of August 2010. But many of those troops will stay in the war zone throughout 2009.