Iraq: Democrats urge Bush not to increase troops

Washington, Jan 6: The top two leaders of the new Democratic-controlled US Congress urged President George W Bush yesterday to not increase U.S. troops in Iraq.

''Adding more combat troops will only endanger more Americans and stretch our military to the breaking point for no strategic gain,'' Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote in a letter to Bush as he prepares to outline a new Iraq strategy.

''Rather than deploy additional forces to Iraq, we believe the way forward is to begin the phased redeployment of our forces in the next four to six months, while shifting the principal mission of our forces there from combat to training, logistics, force protection and counter-terror,'' Reid and Pelosi wrote.

Now facing a Democratic-controlled Congress deeply concerned about his handling of the war, Bush is contemplating what could be a short-term increase of up to 20,000 US troops to try to restore stability to Baghdad.

REUTERS

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