Rumsfeld says more GIs may be needed [View All]

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http://www.iht.com/articles/102694.html

WASHINGTON Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld predicted Sunday that attacks on coalition troops in Iraq could grow "more vicious" this summer, and said for the first time that an increase in U.S. force levels was at least a possibility.
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"We're still in a war," he said on one of two television appearances. Since May 1, when President George W. Bush declared that major hostilities had ended in Iraq, 31 U.S. soldiers have died in the hostilities there.
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Rumsfeld, who testified at length on Wednesday before Congress, and was closely questioned on troop levels, made no reference then to the possibility of having to increase them. Sunday, he put current troop strength at 147,000 and added, "My guess is that number's going to stay there for the foreseeable future."
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Over time, as Iraqi police officers are trained, a nascent Iraqi army grows and other countries send more troops, the U.S. presence might decline.
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But while it seemed unlikely, he added, U.S. troop strength "could be increased," depending on demands.

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