US to boost Iraq troops by 20,000

[modaya]

The US will increase its military forces in Iraq by 20,000 troops in order to deal with the deteriorating security situation, Donald Rumsfeld, defence secretary, announced on Thursday.


The decision, which responds to a request from General John Abizaid, the commander of US forces in the Middle East, will require some US troops currently in Iraq to extend their rotations for at least another three months in order to maintain the current force of 137,000.

But Mr Rumsfeld offered no assurances that the numbers would be decreased after that, despite US expectations that the security situation will improve after formal sovereignty is handed over to the Iraqis on June 30.

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1079420381979

[Nectopod]

1. At last. Our boys need reinforcement

My nephew has been in Iraq for almost a full year. He's been wishing for reinforcements. He says the boys, even though they are tired and edgy, still want to see the job through, but that they don't know how much longer they can do it without additional troops. So this news should be a big boost for him.

[Earth_First]

2. I watched the Pentagon briefing concerning this announcement...

with General George Casey, Deputy Chief of Staff, this afternoon. In addition to the current rotation and extension of deployments, there will likely be at least 2 more rotations in the "foreseeable future"