news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050808/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/iraq_us_military
Click Here Although much public attention has been focused recently on the prospect of reducing US forces next spring and summer, defense officials forese e the likelihood of first increasing troop levels. Lawrence Di Rita, spokesman for Defense Secretary Donald H Rumsfeld, not ed Monday that troop levels were raised last January during Iraq's first elections, and then returned to the current level of about 138,000 seve ral weeks later. "It's perfectly plausible to assume we'll do the same thing for this elec tion," he said, while stressing that no decisions had been made. Di Rita said he did not know how many extra troops might be needed during the referendum and election period. Other officials have said that once the election period has passed and th e troop total recedes to the 138,000 level, a further reduction in the r ange of 20,000 to 30,000 is possible next spring and summer. That could change, however, if the insurgency intensifies or an insufficient number of US-trained Iraqi security forces prove themselves battle ready. Last January the US troop level rose as high as 160,000. This was accom plished mainly by overlapping some units arriving in Iraq to begin a one -year tour with those who were ending their yearlong tours. In at least one case an Army brigade was kept a little longer than its scheduled 12 months in Iraq, and Di Rita said he could not rule out this happening ag ain this fall, although the intention is to avoid tours longer than 12 m onths. "The units that are there have been told to expect that," he said. "It's possible that your planned rotation dates back to the US will be affec ted by the need to keep a higher level for a longer period of time. Di Rita said commanders may also ask for volunteers to serve extended tou rs. Another possibility is that some US-based troops will be sent to Iraq t o augment the force during the election period.
Di Rita said no elements of the 82nd had been alerted to prepare for simi lar duty in Iraq this fall. US commanders predict a need for extra troops this fall in Iraq because the insurgents have tended to intensify their attacks when key politica l milestones approached. Rumsfeld recently mentioned his expectation that insurgent violence will increase in the weeks ahead. "We can reasonably expect both in Afghanistan and in Iraq to see an i ncrease of violence as they continue to move towards their political goa ls: in the case of Afghanistan, September 18th the provincial and the parliamentary elections and in the case of Iraq, the referendum on Oct ober 15th for the constitution," he said July 20. Among the Army units scheduled to deploy to Iraq in coming months is the 101st Airborne Division, which was part of the original invasion force i n 2003 and returned home early in 2004, as well as the 4th Infantry Divi sion, which arrived in Iraq shortly after the fall of Baghdad in April 2 003. Those two divisions have since been reorganized and now have four c ombat brigades each, rather than three each.
A US soldier and interpreter unload a sheep purchased as a gift for a promoted Iraqi police officer from the back of a US combat vehicle in western Mosul, Saturday, July 30, 2005, 360 kilometers (225 miles) nort hwest of Baghdad, Iraq. US forces are training some 1,500 police offic ers in the western half of the city.
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