Democrats urge Bush to reject Iraq troop increase

Jan 5, 2007, 19:00 GMT

Washington - The Democratic congressional leadership has written a letter to US President George W Bush urging him to reject increasing the size of the US force in Iraq and instead begin a phased withdrawal of American soldiers.

'Adding more combat troops will only endanger more Americans and stretch our military to the breaking point for no strategic gain,' said the letter written by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The letter comes one day after the Democrats took control of Congress from Bush's Republican Party. There are about 140,000 US troops currently in Iraq.

Bush plans a major speech next week to outline his new strategy for Iraq, hoping to regain public support for the war and stabilize the country that has been on the brink of a civil war.

Bush is reportedly considering a temporary increase of the US presence in Iraq by 20,000 soldiers to quell the violence and defeat the insurgency before initiating a pullout.

Pelosi and Reid cited comments by senior military officers that putting more soldiers in Iraq would be of no strategic value and would weaken the pressure on the Iraqi government to take more responsibility for security.

The Democrats said Bush should instead begin a phased withdrawal within four to six months.

'It is time to begin to move our forces out of Iraq and make the Iraqi political leadership aware that our commitment is not open ended,' the letter said.

US forces should shift their mission from combat to training, logistics, force protection and counter-terror, the letter said.

Bush has offered no details about what a new strategy might include, but is reportedly planning to shakeup the US military leadership in Iraq and the region.

Bush has undertaken a review of his approach in Iraq since the Democrats defeated the Republicans in November 7 congressional elections. The following day, he announced the Donald Rumsfeld was resigning as Pentagon chief. Robert Gates was later confirmed as the new defence secretary.