U.S. to Send 12,000 More Troops to Iraq

[RBHam]

By ROBERT BURNS,AP Military Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States is expanding its military force in Iraq by 12,000 troops, to the highest level since the war began in March 2003, in order to bolster security in advance of national elections, officials said Wednesday.

The expansion will be achieved by sending about 1,500 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, N.C., this month and by extending the combat tours of about 10,400 troops already in Iraq.

One unit, the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division, is being extended for the second time. Its soldiers originally were told they would be going home in November, but in October they got the news that they would remain until the Jan. 30 elections. Now they are being extended until March.

Brig. Gen. David Rodriquez, deputy operations director of the Joint Staff, told reporters that these moves would increase the size of the American force in Iraq from 138,000 today to about 150,000 by January.

That is the highest number of U.S. troops in Iraq since the invasion, he said. By May 2003, when President Bush declared major combat operations over, there were about 148,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, he said

more...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4647667,00.html