Powell warned Iraq troops too few (secret video conferences with Blair)

[Barrett808]

Secretary of State Colin Powell told President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair last month that there were too few troops in Iraq, according to people familiar with official records of the meeting.

Mr. Powell made his assertion during one in a series of intense discussions on Iraq between Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair this fall. Those sessions, which have largely been kept secret, indicate that there was a tough debate behind closed doors as the Bush administration re-examined its handling of Iraq in the wake of Mr. Bush's re-election victory.

Less than three weeks after the White House meeting, the Pentagon announced that it would boost the U.S. military presence in Iraq by 12,000 troops, to 150,000.

The discussions between the two leaders have taken place in recent months in a series of video-conferences that have been considered so sensitive that the transcripts are destroyed after other senior officials read them.

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