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NBC: Bush to call for more troops
In a guest column in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal President Bush addressed a range of issues. On Iraq he said he'll reveal his new strategy in the coming days. Administration officials tell NBC News it will involve sending some 20,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq. The plan is being called surge and accelerate: take control over violence in Baghdad, then speed up the handover of territory to Iraqi forces. The plan would also turn over more money to Iraq for reconstruction and a jobs program. But the prospect of more troops to Iraq is already drawing fire on Capitol Hill: A former Reagan defense official says it runs counter to the U.S. goal. "If you send another 20,000 more troops, casualties are going to go up, you're going to increase the Iraqi's dependence on us," Former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb said. But hinting at his argument for a surge, President Bush wrote that the U.S. can help provide the necessary quote breathing space for Iraq's young government to meet its responsibilities. The president will have a tough sell here. And one administration official admits the strategy is more a political decision than a military one, with the president pushed to respond to Americans' impatience on the war. His speech on a new path in Iraq is expected in the middle of next week. Brooke Hart, NBC News
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