Bush considering troop increase in Iraq
By Florence Kerry,WNS White House Correspondent
WASHINGTON - US President George W. Bush may temporarily increase the number of US troops in Iraq and is not feuding with top military commanders over such a plan, the White House said Tuesday. "It's something that's being explored," spokesman Tony Snow said amid media reports that the president might add tens of thousands of US soldiers to help quell what the Pentagon now warns is the worst violence on record.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Bush himself made no specific mention of such a proposal except to say that "all options are viable," but announced that he would seek to expand the overall size of the US military. "I'm inclined to believe that we do need to increase our troops, the army, the Marines," he said, adding that he had directed Defence Secretary Robert Gates to consult military commanders on the issue and report back. Bush declined to put a number on the increase, and disputed former US secretary of state Colin Powell's assertion over the weekend that "the active army is about broken" due to strains from Iraq and Afghanistan. "I haven't heard the work 'broken,' but I've the word 'stressed,'" said the president, who told the Post that more ground forces were required to fight the global war on terrorism spared by the September 11, 2001 terrorist strikes. "It is a accurate reflection that this ideological war we're in is going to last for a while, and that we're going to need a military that's capable of being able to sustain our efforts and to help us achieve peace," he said. "We need to reset our military. There's no question the military has been used a lot," said Bush.
Snow denied a news account that the US Joint Chiefs of Staff unanimously disagree with a reported White House plan to send between 15,000 and 30,000 more US troops to Iraq for as many as eight months. "I think people are trying to create a fight between the president and the joint chiefs where one does not exist," said Snow. "He has asked military commanders to consider a range of options and they are doing so."
posted by wnsworld @ 7:28 PM
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