MrDave
April 8th, 2004, 5:00pm
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/04/08/us_may_extend_the_stay_of_15000_troops_in_iraq/
US may extend the stay of 15,000 troops in Iraq
Insurgency prompts shift in approach
By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff, 4/8/2004
WASHINGTON -- At least 15,000 American troops who were scheduled to return from Iraq soon would remain in the country to help quell the rising insurgency under a proposal presented yesterday to President Bush, senior Defense Department officials said.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and General Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, insisted that the situation is not out of control and that American troops face relatively small numbers of extremists.
Other Pentagon officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the total force could be maintained at the current 135,000 -- up from 118,000 in late February -- by extending the stay of some soldiers who have been in Iraq for a year and are scheduled to return home even as fresh replacements arrive. The net effect would be to make more forces available to mount expanded
US may extend the stay of 15,000 troops in Iraq
Insurgency prompts shift in approach
By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff, 4/8/2004
WASHINGTON -- At least 15,000 American troops who were scheduled to return from Iraq soon would remain in the country to help quell the rising insurgency under a proposal presented yesterday to President Bush, senior Defense Department officials said.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and General Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, insisted that the situation is not out of control and that American troops face relatively small numbers of extremists.
Other Pentagon officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the total force could be maintained at the current 135,000 -- up from 118,000 in late February -- by extending the stay of some soldiers who have been in Iraq for a year and are scheduled to return home even as fresh replacements arrive. The net effect would be to make more forces available to mount expanded