U.S. Army weighs more combat units for Iraq: report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army is considering whether to add more combat units to the rotation plan to meet a top commander's decision to keep more than 140,000 troops in the country until at least mid-2007, The Washington Times reported on Monday.

The Army also is considering accelerating the deployments for some brigades in a move to try to stop sectarian violence among Sunnis and Shi'ites in Baghdad, the newspaper reported, citing Pentagon officials.

"It may accelerate the pace of deployments or it may mean looking at calling up additional units," a Pentagon official who asked not to be named told the newspaper.

Army Gen. John Abizaid, head of U.S. Central Command oversees the war, said last week that the United States is unlikely to begin cutting its forces in Iraq before the middle of next year.

He said the United States might even increase the size of its force from the current 147,000.

Read the rest at the Washington Post

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