U.S. boosting Iraq forces by the hundreds
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-16 11:09

The general did not say whether more troop increases might be needed this spring. Just last week, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said that while U.S. forces were prepared to support the Iraqis during any escalation of sectarian violence, the plan was to rely mainly on Iraq's own security forces in the event of all-out civil war.

In a brief written announcement, the U.S. military headquarters in Baghdad did not mention the number of soldiers in the battalion that moved from Kuwait, but officers at the Pentagon said it was about 700 and included mechanized infantry with tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles as well as combat engineers.

The officials who provided details beyond what was announced in Baghdad did so on condition they not be identified.

The battalion moved from Kuwait is part of a brigade of the 1st Armored Division that was placed there late last year to be available for a short-notice deployment to Iraq in case commanders needed extra firepower.

As of Wednesday, the battalion's troops were either patrolling streets in the Baghdad area or preparing to start patrolling, one official said.

The "Scales of Justice" plan focuses on averting or responding to violence connected to the pilgrimage and the political wrangling over formation of a new government. It includes two Iraqi army battalions and three Iraqi national police battalions, besides the three U.S. Army battalions. No total number of personnel associated with the plan was provided in the Baghdad announcement, but it appeared to be about 3,700.

The holiday pilgrimages are to holy sites in Najaf and Karbala, predominantly Shiite areas where the potential for sectarian violence would be of great concern. Increased attacks marked the celebration during 2004 and 2005.

Monday marks the end of the 40-day mourning period after the death of Imam Hussein in 680 A.D. He was the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and was killed in Karbala in present day Iraq, now the site of large Shiite pilgrimages to mark the date.

On Capitol Hill, Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, did not mention the reinforcements sent to Iraq. He was not asked about it during testimony before the House Armed Services Committee.

Abizaid told the panel he does not believe Iraq is on the verge of a civil war.

"I am concerned abut the levels of sectarian violence," Abizaid said. "They have certainly shown that bubbling beneath the surface is a great deal of concern in the various communities." He said a national unified government must emerge soon to control the sectarian violence.