BAGHDAD — The American military says the number of boots on the ground in Iraq has dropped below 100,000 for the first time since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Army 1st Lt. Elizabeth Feste told The Associated Press that as of today there are 98,000 troops in Iraq.

That's a significant drop from the roughly 140,000 troops in the month after the invasion, and a decline of about 70,000 since the height of the 2007 surge in which tens of thousands were deployed to fight the insurgency.

The declining number of troops signals the U.S. is sticking by its plan to steadily reduce its number of combat troops in Iraq to 50,000 by the end of August.

The U.S. military plans to pull out of the country completely by the end of 2011.