U.S. moving 1,500 troops to Iraq
(AP)
Updated: 2006-05-30 22:47
U.S. military commanders are moving about 1,500 troops from a reserve force
in Kuwait into the volatile Anbar province in western Iraq to help local
authorities establish order there.
This undated photo released by the Iraq
Government on Tuesday, May 30, 2006 is said to show Ahmed Hussein Dabash
Samir al-Batawi, who was arrested by a terrorist combat unit on Monday in
Baghdad, according to the Iraqi Prime Minister's
office.[AP] |
The move, announced Tuesday by military commanders in Iraq, comes as Iraqi
officials continue to struggle to set up their government, amid new spikes in
violence.
The 1st Armored Division has had a brigade stationed in Kuwait for several
months serving as a reserve force that could be called upon to augment the
troops in Iraq. One of the brigade's battalions was sent to the Baghdad area in
March to bolster security until a new national government was seated.
The deployment comes at a time when the Bush administration is under heavy
election-year pressure to begin drawing down the roughly 130,000 American troops
in Iraq.
The two battalions of 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, were sent after Gen.
George W. Casey Jr., the top U.S. commander in Iraq, requested and received
authority to relocate the reserve force, after coordination with Iraq officials
and Pentagon leaders.
"The situation in Al Anbar Province is currently a challenge but is not
representative of the overall security situation in Iraq," said Lt. Col.
Michelle Martin-Hing, spokeswoman for Multi-National Corps-Iraq.
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