Pentagon to buttress US troop levels in Iraq

Washington, Sep 26: The US military is delaying the departure of thousands of soldiers from Iraq while speeding the arrival of thousands more as a way to keep more troops on the ground to handle unrelenting violence, US officials said today.

The United States, in a bid to stem a rise in sectarian violence between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims that has heightened concern over civil war, has increased its troop count in the past two months to the current level of 142,000.

A brigade of roughly 3,800 soldiers from the Army's 1st Armored Division, based in Germany, that was due to have left Iraq in January is being held in place for a little under two months, said defence officials who asked not to be named because the decision has not been formally announced.

These soldiers, serving in the volatile Ramadi area, are now set to serve roughly 13 months in Iraq, longer than the US policy of 12-month tours of duty for Army soldiers, an official said.

Meanwhile, a similarly sized Texas-based Army brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division is being sent to Iraq about a month earlier than previously scheduled, and should be leaving in October, an official said.

Both moves enable the Pentagon to bolster troop levels in Iraq without actually deploying soldiers who had not already been due to go. But the moves also reflect what some military experts have called the growing strain for the Army in continuing to provide large numbers of combat troops for Iraq and Afghanistan.

'A GREAT DEAL'

''There's no question but that any time there's a war, the forces of the countries involved are asked to do a great deal,'' Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told reporters.

''From time to time, there may be units that will be asked to increase the number of days in-country from what had been anticipated. On the other hand, we're also bringing you some other units in earlier, which is another way of dealing with that issue,'' Rumsfeld said.

This marks the second time in two months that the military has opted to extend a brigade in Iraq beyond its planned departure date in order to deal with unabated violence in Iraq 3 1/2 years into the war.

By extending a unit scheduled to leave Iraq, the Army can maintain or bolster troop levels without having to send in reinforcements from outside the country, but such action often provokes anger and disappointment among soldiers and families.

Some military experts have said wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has stretched the Army virtually to the breaking point, with many soldiers serving two or three tours of duty and equipment wearing out at alarming rates.

The 1st Armored Division soldiers are serving in one of Iraq's most dangerous places. Ramadi is the capital of Anbar province in western Iraq, heartland of the Sunni Arab insurgency.

Pentagon policy is for Army units to serve 12-month tours in Iraq and Marine Corps units to serve seven-month tours.

Troops who serve past those limits receive extra pay.

At key times in the war -- for example, during Iraqi elections in 2005 and the return of sovereignty in 2004, the Pentagon has delayed the departure of troops to beef up the American presence temporarily.

Army Gen John Abizaid, head of US Central Command, said last week the United States is likely to maintain more than 140,000 troops in Iraq through next spring. President George W Bush has acknowledged he had hoped to begin reducing US troop levels by now but was thwarted by persistent violence in Iraq.

REUTERS