Bush considers smaller increase in troops than expected

WASHINGTON — President Bush plans to order extra U.S. troops to Iraq as part of a new push to secure Baghdad but in smaller numbers than previously reported, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

The president, who is completing a lengthy review of Iraq policy, is considering dispatching three to four U.S. combat brigades to Iraq, or no more than 15,000 to 20,000 U.S. troops, the officials said. Bush is expected to announce his decision next week, possibly as early as Wednesday, officials said.

Bush had been considering proposals to send a much larger contingent into Baghdad — as many as 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers and Marines.

"Instead of a surge, it is a bump," said a State Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity because Bush hasn't unveiled details of what the White House is calling a "new way forward" in Iraq.

CBS News reported Wednesday that U.S. military commanders have told Bush they are prepared to send two additional Army brigades and two Marine battalions. It also reported that an additional 11,000 troops would be on alert outside Iraq, including one Army brigade scheduled to deploy to Kuwait this month.

NBC News, quoting Bush administration officials, reported Tuesday that the president has all but made up his mind to send additional troops.

Some experts doubt that the smaller deployment would be sufficient to halt Iraq's escalating clashes between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.

Some military leaders, including Gen. John Abizaid, the U.S. Middle East commander due to retire early this year, have raised concerns about increasing troops, saying it would heighten opposition to the American presence.

The top generals in the Army and the Marine Corps have said publicly in recent days that any boost in troop levels should be for a well-defined purpose tied to a broad strategy for stabilizing Iraq.

As of Wednesday, there were 132,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, according to the Pentagon.

Details of Bush's Iraq strategy are still being finalized and could change. But the smaller increase appears to reflect the constraints the president faces as he tries to convince the public that victory is still possible in Iraq.

Congressional Democrats, who formally take power on Capitol Hill today, widely oppose any increase in U.S. troops now. Many want Bush to present a plan for withdrawing troops.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military has been stretched by four years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, meaning few active-duty combat units are available for deployment.

To marshal even 15,000 to 20,000 additional troops, Bush would have to accelerate the return of some units to the battlefield, cutting their time to train between deployments.

Officials in Baghdad have said extra troops could be used to secure the capital or add soldiers to military transition teams, who train alongside their Iraqi counterparts.

But in Washington, the thinking increasingly is that the troops would be used to try to secure Baghdad and protect the Iraqi population from relentless violence, State Department officials said.

Bush also is expected to announce another initiative to reconcile Iraqi Sunni and Shiite Muslims and to request additional funds to provide jobs to Iraqis who otherwise might join ethnic militias.

To date, billions of dollars in U.S. funds have gone to rebuild Iraq, but the bulk of that money has been awarded to American firms, which hire non-Iraqi contractors.

Other reports and reactions by military leaders were provided by Reuters and The Associated Press.