thedrifter
11-29-06, 01:45 PM
Senior Pentagon Official: To Move 3 Battalions To Baghdad-CNN
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. military is planning to move at least three battalions of troops into Baghdad from other areas of Iraq, Cable News Network, citing a senior Pentagon official, reported Wednesday.
CNN said despite earlier reports, none of the troops will be coming from Iraq's Anbar province, where a contingent of about 20,000 U.S. Marines are battling insurgents.
It said, according to the official, the troops will be moved from other areas of Iraq that are more peaceful, including some in the general Baghdad area.
CNN said the objective is to secure Baghdad, which remains the U.S. military's top priority for trying to bring violence under control.
According to a report in The New York Times earlier Wednesday, a classified memorandum written by Stephen J. Hadley, the national security adviser, refers to a four-brigade gap in Baghdad.
This is being considered an acknowledgment that there is a substantial shortfall of troops in the Iraqi capital compared with the level needed to provide security there, in part because the Iraqi government has not dispatched all the forces it has promised.
A U.S. brigade generally numbers about 3,500 troops, though Iraqi units can be smaller.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-29-061211ET
Ellie
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. military is planning to move at least three battalions of troops into Baghdad from other areas of Iraq, Cable News Network, citing a senior Pentagon official, reported Wednesday.
CNN said despite earlier reports, none of the troops will be coming from Iraq's Anbar province, where a contingent of about 20,000 U.S. Marines are battling insurgents.
It said, according to the official, the troops will be moved from other areas of Iraq that are more peaceful, including some in the general Baghdad area.
CNN said the objective is to secure Baghdad, which remains the U.S. military's top priority for trying to bring violence under control.
According to a report in The New York Times earlier Wednesday, a classified memorandum written by Stephen J. Hadley, the national security adviser, refers to a four-brigade gap in Baghdad.
This is being considered an acknowledgment that there is a substantial shortfall of troops in the Iraqi capital compared with the level needed to provide security there, in part because the Iraqi government has not dispatched all the forces it has promised.
A U.S. brigade generally numbers about 3,500 troops, though Iraqi units can be smaller.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-29-061211ET
Ellie