The US military is asking for up to 10,000 more troops to help contain growing violence in Iraq.
Gen John Abizaid, the commander of US forces in the Middle East, said he had asked Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to adjust the troop rotation into and out of Iraq this spring.
The readjustment would give the military the use of about 10,000 more soldiers than they otherwise would have.
Gen Abizaid, speaking at a press conference in Washington, suggested the request would involve keeping at least a portion of the Army's 1st Armoured Division in Iraq longer than planned.
Gen Abizaid was asked whether the number of insurgents in Iraq, which he estimated at about 5,000 last fall, had grown or shrunk.
"I'd say my estimate of about what it was back in November is not much different from what I'd say today," he replied. "But it's a very imprecise thing when you deal with insurgency and counterinsurgency operations."
PA