WASHINGTON — The Pentagon unveiled plans Wednesday to increase the number of U.S. troops in Iraq to about 150,000 -- the highest level since the U.S. occupation began in the spring of 2003 -- in an effort to reduce violence during elections scheduled for next month.
The troop increase, larger than commanders have outlined before, will require that about 10,400 troops remain in Iraq beyond their expected return dates to bolster U.S. forces during the elections at the end of January. As well, 1,500 soldiers from two battalions of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division will be deployed from Ft. Bragg, N.C., to add to the 138,000 U.S. troops now in Iraq.
The extensions are "mainly to provide security for the elections, but it's also to keep up the pressure on the insurgency after the Fallouja operations," Brig. Gen. David Rodriguez of the Pentagon's Joint Staff told reporters.
Along with the scheduled arrival of thousands more soldiers this month and next as part of scheduled troops rotations, the extensions will send the number of U.S. forces higher than at any point since the Pentagon began decreasing the force of about 170,000 that stormed into Iraq in March 2003.
Rodriguez said Gen. George W. Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, opted to extend deployments -- rather than hasten the departure of units scheduled to leave for Iraq -- in order to have seasoned soldiers there during the elections.
"The ground commander believes that the most experienced troops are the ones he needs to stay there longer during this critical time surrounding the Iraqi election," Rodriguez said. "They're the ones who know the ground best, who have worked with the people closest."
Pentagon officials expect troop levels in Iraq to fall below 140,000 once the elections are over, but Army planners are drawing up contingency plans in case the violence in Iraq requires that more troops remain.
The announcement was criticized by opponents of the war and some relatives of enlistees who questioned whether the increase would be effective.
"Bringing the troop levels up just puts more people at risk," said Charley Richardson, cofounder of Military Families Speak Out, which represents 2,000 military families opposed to the war.
"We believe the troops need to be brought home, not increased. Increasing troop levels is not going to make the situation there any better, and increasing them for a short period of time so they can run their elections so the Bush administration can look good is not a good policy for Iraq and the world."
