President Bush's administration is split over the concept of sending more troops to Iraq, the Washington Postreported today.
White House officials are aggressively promoting a short-term increase in US troop levels in Iraq over the unanimous disagreement of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the newspaper reported.
The chiefs of the military services think the White House still does not have a defined mission and is latching on to the idea of a surge of troops in Iraq, in part, because of limited alternatives, the report said, citing officials.
The Joint Chiefs have warned that a short-term mission could give an edge to the armed factions in Iraq without providing a lasting boost to the US military mission or to the Iraqi army, the report said.
Sending 15,000 to 30,000 more troops to Iraq for six to eight months is one proposal under consideration as the White House looks for ways to halt the worsening situation in Iraq, the officials told the Post.
The officials were quoted as saying that the idea of a much larger deployment for a longer mission was virtually off the table, mainly for logistics reasons.
There are about 134,000 US troops in Iraq.
Mr Bush has been seeking advice about a new plan for Iraq from military officials, the State Department and others in and out of government.