US seeks to beef up troops in Iraq

[justinsb]

US seeks to beef up troops in Iraq

The United States expects to raise its troop levels in Iraq to bolster security for the planned October constitutional referendum and December elections for a new government, the Pentagon has said.

Planning for a short-term bulge in troop levels comes as US commanders, according to defence officials, are also working towards cutting the current force by 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers by the middle of next year, contingent on progress in Iraq's political process and in developing Iraqi security forces.

The increase in troops also coincides with a spike in the number of Americans killed fighting the uprising after a US-led invasion toppled president Saddam Hussein in 2003.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6DE35B26-37E3-4F14-85EC-CA7F0DF37CFA.htm

[ClintonTyree]

1. That also makes it easier to say..........

that they're making troop reductions before the '06 elections.
Typical sales strategy; raise the listed prices, then SLASH them during the HUGE SALE! I suckers in some people, but most people are wise to that type of sales "strategy".

[bluestateguy]

2. We're dealing with Washington math here

Washington D.C.: where increasing spending on a program by 1% is not an increase, it's a "cut".

There is no reason to believe that they wouldn't do the same thing for troop counts in Iraq: Raise the troop levels to 160,000 then go back to 138,000 (where we are at now)and then call it a "cut".

[Javaman]

3. More of the same. Remember the Iraqi "elections"?

They "temporarily" raised the troop levels, for "safety", then afterward the elections, they conveniently forgot to bring the troops back home...I detest these despicable bastards.

colossal failure*