Two extra US battalions to Iraq

[brettdale]

Two extra US battalions to Iraq

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,16367071-23109,00.html

Mr Rumsfeld discounted concerns that Sunni rejection of the charter could leave US forces caught in the middle of a civil war.


"It hasn't happened yet. It is not happening now," he said.
"And, obviously, it is something that one has to be attentive to and be concerned about. But I haven't seen anything to indicate that the risk is greater today than it was yesterday or the day before," he said.

[Divernan]

1. Exactly how many soldiers are there in TWO battalions?

In the article, Rumsfeld is quoted as saying "between 1,000 and 2,000 troops; but the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs said "two battalions". So exactly how much spin was non-combat vet Rumsfeld putting on this story? Any vets out there to tell us how many soldiers in two battalions?

ON EDIT: Just looked up the answer to my question. In the US Army, a battalion can range in size from 300 to 1,000 soldiers.

[BrotherBuzz]

2. That's about right

Division 15,000 (+ -)
Brigade 3,000
Battalion 1,000

[BrklynLiberal]

3. That looks like a 21,000 increase in troops, not a 2000 increase.

Military officials also are looking at ways to adjust the rotation of forces to beef up the US troop presence on the ground for the elections from its current level of about 138,000 troops.

Some units already in Iraq could have their tours extended for a couple of months while units due to deploy to Iraq could be brought in earlier than scheduled.

Pentagon officials have said they expect the total number to rise to about the level they were at during Iraq's January 30 elections - some 159,000 troops.