American military planners believe the current level of U.S. forces in Iraq is sufficient to accomplish the mission, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here Aug. 20.
Abizaid, commander of the U.S. Central Command, said he was dissatisfied with the performance of Iraqi police and members of the civil defense corps in refusing to help U.S. Marines in Fallujah and in deserting their posts in southern cities, allowing militiamen loyal to Moqtada Sadr, a 30-year-old Shiite cleric, to take over government buildings and police stations...Abizaid said he has requested reinforcements in the form of two U.S. combat brigades, but he declined to specify where they would come from and how many troops they would include.
Military analysts in Washington said the two brigades would probably amount to about 10,000 troops, allowing commanders to maintain U.S. troop strength in Iraq at about 125,000 in the coming months. The military had planned to draw the forces down to about 115,000 from the current level of about 135,000, a number that officers have said is unusually high because of an overlap of new and departing units.
The situation is not getting any better over there.
NOTE: I particulary was unnerved by the president's comment yesterday that the soldiers who have died thusfar in Iraq did so for our "security". I don't feel any safer.