By Pauline Jelinek
Washington - The United States military is signalling that it will maintain or possibly increase the current level of about 130 000 troops in Iraq as commanders develop a plan to move as many as 5 000 soldiers with heavy armour into embattled Baghdad.
The Pentagon announced Thursday that roughly 21 000 Army soldiers and Marines have been told they are scheduled to go to Iraq during the current 2006-2008 rotation.
Combined with two previous announcements of about 113 000 American service members scheduled for this rotation period, this could bring the number of US troops there to as many as 134 000, if all units are deployed.
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Military commanders have said they will determine what units are sent depending on conditions in Iraq. The latest announcement calls into question suggestions that the Pentagon could reduce troop levels in Iraq significantly by year's end.
Defence officials who revealed the plan to reinforce the capital said the soldiers will use armoured vehicles and tanks to quell escalating violence in the capital.
As part of the plan, Defence Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld extended the tours on Thursday of 3 500 members of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team. The unit was scheduled to be leaving now; instead, most of its 3 900 troops will serve for up to four more months.
It was unclear whether the Stryker troops, who are in northern Iraq, would be among those going to Baghdad.
Under the plan to bolster security in Baghdad, US troops would be teamed with Iraqi police and army units and make virtually every operation in the city a joint effort, one military official said. Another said movement of some troops into Baghdad already had begun.
As part of the Baghdad security plan, all flights out for soldiers currently at the end of their deployment were cancelled as of Tuesday as commanders wrestled with the plan and how to supply troops needed for it, a third official said.
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