http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/21/world/middleeast/21troops.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=sloginU.S. Considers Raising Troop Levels in Iraq
WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 — Pentagon officials conducting a review of Iraq strategy are considering a substantial but temporary increase in American troop levels and the addition of several thousand more trainers to work with Iraqi forces, a senior Defense Department official said Monday.
The idea, dubbed the “surge option” by some officials, would involve increasing American forces by 20,000 troops or more for several months in the hope of improving security, especially in Baghdad. That would mark a sharp rise over the current baseline of 144,000 troops.
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“There are people who believe that a short-term surge would have a beneficial impact, but there isn’t universal agreement on that yet,” said the senior official, who said that President Bush was scheduled to be briefed in the next several weeks on the developing options, which were first reported Monday in The Washington Post.
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Some Pentagon officials took issue Monday with the idea that the relatively low-ranking group composed largely of colonels would be drafting options for switching course in Iraq. A Pentagon spokesman, Bryan Whitman, said the group was not charged with developing formal recommendations but rather with giving its views to other members of the Joint Staff.