Bush, Gates confer on Iraq amid talk of troop surge

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061223/ts_nm/iraq_usa_surge_dc

Bush, Gates confer on Iraq amid talk of troop surge

By Caren Bohan 1 hour, 19 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New Defense Secretary Robert Gates, just back from
Iraq, briefed President Bush on his trip amid a report that some U.S. military commanders had decided to recommend an increase in troops there.


Bush has said he would unveil a fresh plan for the increasingly unpopular Iraq war early in the new year. He has said a temporary increase in U.S. forces was one option he was considering.

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The Los Angeles Times reported on Saturday that top U.S. commanders in Iraq have decided to recommend a surge in the number of U.S. combat forces there. The newspaper cited a defense official who was familiar with the plan and said that top U.S. commanders like Gen. George Casey and Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno supported it.

However, a military spokesman in Baghdad said Casey, the highest-ranking U.S. officer in Iraq, "has not asked for more troops." Casey's position remains that he is "not necessarily opposed to the idea" of a troop surge, said Army Lt. Col. Christopher Garver.........

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A White House spokesman, Blain Rethmeier, said "the president is pleased with the progress being made" on crafting a new policy. The White House provided no details of the hourlong discussion.

Bush has said he cannot settle on a revised war plan without input from Gates, who took over from Donald Rumsfeld at the Defense Department on Monday. The president is expected to announce his revamped Iraq strategy in a speech to the nation sometime between Jan. 1 and Jan. 23, when he gives his State of the Union address.

Part of Bush's updated strategy will include a way to improve the economic picture in Iraq and a new approach to both diplomacy in the region and to the delicate -- and deadly -- political situation inside Iraq.

An anti-American, most Sunni insurgency has been replaced this year as the chief source of violence by bloodshed between Sunni and Shiite factions.

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