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Pentagon reveals next troop rotation for Iraq

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon announced Monday that more than 92,000 troops will be in the next rotation of U.S. forces in Iraq, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said its exact size will not be decided until after the Dec. 15 election of a new Iraqi government.

The Pentagon said it has identified some of the major combat units that will deploy, starting in mid 2006 as part of a rotation that will run through mid 2008.

It said the identified units will total about 92,000 troops, but Rumsfeld said that should not be taken as the final figure. The usual troop level this year has been about 138,000, although that has been strengthened to about 160,000 this fall out of concern for extra violence during voting in October and December.

The number of troops in future rotations will depend on conditions, including the severity of the insurgency and the strength of Iraqi security forces, as well as the recommendations of U.S. commanders, Rumsfeld said.

"We know we're going to bulk up for the elections, and we know we're going to go back down to some level after the elections," Rumsfeld said.

Separately, a senior Army general said there is a growing momentum in the training of Iraqi security forces, which now total about 100,000 army soldiers and about 111,000 police forces. In a detailed briefing before a group organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank, Lt. Gen. David Petraeus said the goal is to have a combined total of 230,000 army and police by the December election.

Petraeus left Iraq last summer after a year in command of training programs for the Iraqi security forces. His briefing charts said the training and equipping of the Iraqi army should be done by January 2007, and by March 2007 for the Iraqi police services. The total number of forces is to reach 325,000 by July 2007.

The Pentagon hopes to be able to reduce U.S. troop levels as Iraqi security forces become more capable of defending their own country, but it is unclear when that point will be reached.

The troop rotation announcement identified only six combat brigades that will deploy over a two-year period beginning in mid 2006. Currently there are about 17 brigades in Iraq. Monday's announcement did not include any Marine Corps units, although they apparently will be added later.

The Pentagon said the following major units will deploy as part of the 2006-2008 rotation:

--1st Brigade, 34th Infantry Division, Minnesota Army National Guard.

--2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Schweinfert, Germany.

--3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.

--3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

--3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

--2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.

--13th Corps Support Command, Fort Hood, Texas.

--Division headquarters, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

The announcement said, without elaboration, that Rumsfeld's decisions "may result in changes to this rotation and may affect units now being identified and advised to prepare to deploy."

[Last modified November 8, 2005, 02:15:36]