thedrifter
03-08-07, 06:51 AM
U.S. to Have Additional Forces in Iraq by June, Petraeus Says
By Robin Stringer
March 8 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. military commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, said the deployment of 21,500 additional soldiers and Marines will be complete by early June.
``We are receiving about one brigade per month,'' he said today in a news conference televised from Baghdad by the Pentagon. ``The combat forces should all be here and into location by early June.''
President George W. Bush ordered the reinforcements in January to improve security amid a growing insurgency against foreign forces and violence between Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority and Sunni Muslim minority that has threatened to escalate into a full-scale civil war.
Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno, who reports to Petraeus as the coalition's operational commander, recommended that the increased force levels be maintained until February 2008, the New York Times reported today. The newspaper cited a confidential assessment Odierno has handed to Petraeus, who has yet to make a formal recommendation of how long the extra troops should stay.
Petraeus recommended the U.S. deploy 7,000 support personnel in addition to the 21,500 troops undertaking combat roles. The administration asked the Democratic-controlled Congress to approve spending for 4,000 support personnel. The need for the support troops was ``always anticipated,'' Petraeus said today.
The support units being sent to Iraq will include 2,200 military police officers to oversee suspects who will be taken into detention in the course of stepped-up operations in Baghdad and the western province of al-Anbar, Petraeus said.
The additional combat units include five Army brigades that will operate in Baghdad, and two Marine Corps battalions and an expeditionary unit for al-Anbar. So far, two of the Baghdad brigades have arrived.
Petraeus said he will help the Iraqi government form ``a new state in an ancient land'' by focusing on providing security, followed by reconstruction and economic investment. The sectarian violence sparked by the February 2006 bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra ``tore at the very fabric of Iraqi society,'' he said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Robin Stringer in London at rstringer@bloomberg.net .
Last Updated: March 8, 2007 05:27 EST
Ellie
By Robin Stringer
March 8 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. military commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, said the deployment of 21,500 additional soldiers and Marines will be complete by early June.
``We are receiving about one brigade per month,'' he said today in a news conference televised from Baghdad by the Pentagon. ``The combat forces should all be here and into location by early June.''
President George W. Bush ordered the reinforcements in January to improve security amid a growing insurgency against foreign forces and violence between Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority and Sunni Muslim minority that has threatened to escalate into a full-scale civil war.
Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno, who reports to Petraeus as the coalition's operational commander, recommended that the increased force levels be maintained until February 2008, the New York Times reported today. The newspaper cited a confidential assessment Odierno has handed to Petraeus, who has yet to make a formal recommendation of how long the extra troops should stay.
Petraeus recommended the U.S. deploy 7,000 support personnel in addition to the 21,500 troops undertaking combat roles. The administration asked the Democratic-controlled Congress to approve spending for 4,000 support personnel. The need for the support troops was ``always anticipated,'' Petraeus said today.
The support units being sent to Iraq will include 2,200 military police officers to oversee suspects who will be taken into detention in the course of stepped-up operations in Baghdad and the western province of al-Anbar, Petraeus said.
The additional combat units include five Army brigades that will operate in Baghdad, and two Marine Corps battalions and an expeditionary unit for al-Anbar. So far, two of the Baghdad brigades have arrived.
Petraeus said he will help the Iraqi government form ``a new state in an ancient land'' by focusing on providing security, followed by reconstruction and economic investment. The sectarian violence sparked by the February 2006 bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra ``tore at the very fabric of Iraqi society,'' he said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Robin Stringer in London at rstringer@bloomberg.net .
Last Updated: March 8, 2007 05:27 EST
Ellie