US troops numbers in Iraq hit all time high

This is from AFP. Electing Democrats results in this! It is about time for a third party or new representatives from the Democrats (or maybe the Republicans might be easier to work with!)



US troop numbers in Iraq at all-time highArticle from: Agence France-Presse

September 07, 2007 09:34am
US force levels in Iraq had grown to an all-time high of 168,000 troops, a senior Pentagon official said today as the US administration geared up to defend its surge strategy before Congress.

Major General Richard Sherlock, director of operational planning for the Joint Staff, said the higher number of troops was the result of overlapping troop deployments.

The total rose from 162,000 troops, the previous high of the nearly 4-½-year war.

"Force rotations are continuing, and we have approximately 168,000 US troops in Iraq that are conducting operations alongside Iraqi security forces, conducting reliefs in place and transfers of authority, and training Iraqi security forces," Maj-Gen Sherlock said.

He said the arrival of more combat brigades would temporarily push the total to as high as 172,000 over coming months before it falls back to about 160,000 troops by November or December as other units leave.

In the past, US troops rotations have been used to bulk up US ground forces during elections or other periods when higher levels of violence are expected.

This one comes as General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker are preparing to testify before Congress next week on the results of the surge.

US military commanders in Iraq had warned of a possible spike in violence to influence the debate in Congress, but more recently have pointed to a decline in sectarian violence as evidence that the surge is working.

Commanders also are worried that violence will pick up again during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan which begins around September 12.

Report calls for troop cuts

Meanwhile, a new report on the war released today said the US military should cut its presence in Iraq to look less like an "occupying force'' but Congress should not impose a withdrawal deadline.

The appraisal, overseen by retired Marine General James Jones, said Iraq's military was at least 12-18 months away from assuming combat duties from US soldiers, while its police force is so corrupt that it should be disbanded.

But the sprawling US military footprint should also be reduced to give Iraqis a better signal of US intentions, Gen Jones's commission of veteran military and police chiefs said in its report to Congress.

"The unintended message conveyed is one of 'permanence,' an occupying force, as it were,'' said the report.

"What is needed is the opposite impression: one that is lighter, less massive and more expeditionary,'' it said.

"We recommend that careful consideration of the size of our national footprint in Iraq be reconsidered with regard to its efficiency, necessity and cost."

However, Gen Jones also said he did not believe that Democratic troop withdrawal timetables were the way to reduce the US military presence.

"I think deadlines can work against us, and I think a deadline of this magnitude would be against our national interest,'' he said.