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Military studies Iraq troop hike

Another buildup of American forces is among actions being considered by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the chairman says.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published July 17, 2007

BAGHDAD - The U.S. military is weighing new directions for Iraq, including an even bigger troop buildup if President Bush thinks his "surge" strategy needs a further boost, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday.

Marine Gen. Peter Pace revealed that he and the chiefs of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force are developing their own assessment of the situation in Iraq, to be presented to Bush in September. That will be separate from the highly anticipated report to Congress that month by Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander for Iraq.

The Joint Chiefs are considering a range of actions, including another troop buildup, Pace said. He called it prudent planning.

The military must "be prepared for whatever it's going to look like two months from now," Pace said in an interview.

He said another option is maintaining current troop levels beyond September. There are about 158,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

Triple bombing kills 81 in Kirkuk, police say

BAGHDAD - A triple bombing, including a massive suicide truck blast, killed at least 81 people Monday in Kirkuk, the deadliest attack in the oil-rich Iraqi northern city. The bloodshed reinforced concern that extremists are heading north as U.S.-led forces step up pressure around Baghdad.

The vast majority of the casualties came in the truck bombing, which blasted a 30-foot-deep crater and damaged part of the roof of the headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the party of President Jalal Talabani. The explosion took place in a crowded commercial area.

Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, is a center of tensions among Arabs, Turkomen and Kurds, who want to include the area in the autonomous Kurdish region of the north. Voters in the city are to decide whether to join the Kurdish self-ruled region in a referendum by year's end.

The truck blast killed at least 80 people and wounded more than 180, police Brig. Burhan Tayeb Taha said.

Twenty minutes later, a car bomb exploded about 700 yards away in an outdoor market, Taha said. Hours later, a car bomb exploded in southern Kirkuk, killing one police officer and wounding six others, he said.

The U.S. military reported the deaths of two troops on Sunday, one after an explosion northwest of Kirkuk and one in a noncombat incident in the southern city of Diwaniyah.

Senate Democrats set an all-night debate

WASHINGTON - The Senate this week will pull its first all-night debate on the Iraq war in advance of a vote on whether to bring home all combat troops by next spring, Democrats said Monday.

With the rare, round-the-clock session tonight through Wednesday morning, Democrats are trying to ratchet up pressure on Republicans who have grown uneasy with the lack of progress in the war and begun questioning President Bush's military strategy. Many Democrats favor legislation that would order combat troops to begin leaving in 120 days and complete the pullout by April 30.

Republicans shrugged off the planned marathon debate as political theater. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said that Republicans "welcome further debate" but that there was no reason why the Senate couldn't vote sooner.

Iraqi leader backs off comments on U.S. exit

BAGHDAD - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki sought to soften earlier comments that American troops can leave "any time they want," saying Monday that Iraq's security force was on the road to taking over from U.S. troops but that it's not there yet.

Maliki told reporters Saturday he was confident that Iraq's army and police are capable of maintaining security "if the international forces withdraw any time they want."

With those comments, the U.S.-backed prime minister appeared to undermine the White House's contention that the 158,000 American troops must remain in the country because Iraq's own security forces are not ready to deal with Sunni and Shiite extremists on their own.

On Monday, Maliki rolled back. He said he hoped Iraqi forces would be able to take over security duties from the Americans by the end of the year.

[Last modified July 17, 2007, 00:38:52]