'Senior Administration Official': Surge may last 'year or longer'

Dec. 18, 2006— The commandant of the Marine Corps is offering some insight — and some words of caution — into the administration's planning for a possible "surge" of troops in Iraq.

Gen. James T. Conway said a meeting with President Bush left him convinced that the president was considering a "strategy change" that could send five more brigades — about 17,500 troops — to Iraq. "I emphasize the word 'considering,'" Conway said, adding that the Joint Chiefs could support such a proposal.

"Right now, those five brigades are in training and getting ready to go back in," Conway told reporters during a visit to Cape Girardeau, Mo., over the weekend. If their training were cut short to send them back to Iraq, he said, "You sacrifice something later on."

"If you reach down and pull those (troops) forward, that represents, in military parlance, a 'surge,'" he said, that limits the availability of manpower in the future. Conway said he believes such a move should not be considered lightly: "If you commit your reserve for something other than a decisive win or to stave off defeat, then you have essentially shot your bolt," he said.

A senior administration official tells ABC News that a surge of troops, if put into effect, would not necessarily be that "temporary." The troop increase could last a year or longer, depending on "conditions on the ground," he said.

Read the rest at ABC News

Related Link:
General Cody: Military needs more troops or increased use of Guard, Reserves

Related Link:
General Schoomaker: Army near breaking point, need thousands more troops plus bigger call up of reserves

Related Link:
Sources: Bush ready to send up to 50,000 more troops to Iraq

Related Link:
Pentagon moving 3,500 more troops into Kuwait ahead of 'surge'

Related Link:
Odierno takes the reins as No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq

Related Link:
Bush rejects ideas of 'defeat', says aim to 'win war' -- no leaving until 'job is done'

Related Link:
U.S. to deploy 4 new combat battalions

Related Link:
2,200 more reserve force Marines heading to Anbar

Related Link:
Pentagon: 57,000 troops to deploy early next year