Bush weighs more troops for Iraq, bigger US military

WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (Reuters) US President George W Bush today said he was weighing a short-term increase in US troops in Iraq and believed that the United Sates should expand its Army and Marine Corps in the long term.

''I haven't made up my mind yet about more troops (for Iraq),'' Bush said at a news conference. ''We're looking at all options, and one of those options of course is increasing more troops, but in order to do so there must be a specific mission that can be accomplished with more troops.'' Bush is expected to announce a new Iraq strategy in January. The administration has been studying a temporary increase in the number of troops in Iraq as part of the new strategy.

The president said he was ''inclined to believe'' that there needed to be a permanent boost in the overall US military because of the what he saw as a ''long struggle against radicals and extremists.'' ''It's going to take a while for the ideology of liberty to triumph over the ideology of hate,'' he said.

Reuters SY GC2120