Deployment of 35,000 more troops to Iraq: US Defence

Washington, May 9: The US Defense Department has said it has notified 35,000 active-duty troops to replace the units currently serving in Iraq.

The units will be deployed for up to 15 months, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters yesterday.

The replacement forces will allow commanders to maintain a buildup of the US forces in Iraq through the end of the year if needed.

Mr Whitman said 10 army units, known as combat brigades, have been told to deploy between August and December.

Earlier this year, President Bush ordered 30,000 additional troops to Iraq for a security crackdown. The US officials said military leaders will decide in September whether the buildup has been successful and if it should continue.

Mr Whitman emphasised that the announcement is unrelated to the troop surge under way to increase security in and around Baghdad.

''Let me be real clear about this,'' he said. ''This deployment is not a decision with respect to the surge. It is simply identifying the next 10 units that will receive deployment orders and to provide the kind of predictability'' they need to prepare.

Any decision regarding the surge will be based ''entirely upon the conditions on the ground,'' Mr Whitman said.

Army Gen David Petraeus, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, is expected to assess those conditions later this year and make recommendations regarding the surge to the commander of the US Central Command, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, defense secretary and president.

UNI