US lawmakers call for more American troops in Iraq

By Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two top U.S. lawmakers on Sunday
called for more American troops to be sent to Iraq, but the
head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said that was
“very unlikely.”

Sens. Joseph Biden and John McCain said there were not
enough U.S. forces to fend off insurgent attacks and not enough
Iraqi forces are trained to take over from the 138,000 U.S.
soldiers there.

Biden, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking
Democrat, said fewer than 3,000 Iraqis are fully trained to
take over from their American counterparts.

“We have another probably 20 to 30 battalions out there
that, with embedded U.S. military, are able to do a serious,
positive job. After that, it falls off the cliff,” the Delaware
senator said on NBC’S “Meet the Press.”

A recent U.S. military report put the number of Iraqi
security forces at 171,300.

McCain, a top Republican on the Senate Armed Services
committee, said if more American troops are not sent, Iraqis
should continue to supplement but not replace U.S. forces.

“The day that I can land at the airport in Baghdad and ride
in an unarmed car down the highway to the green zone is the day
that I’ll start considering withdrawals from Iraq,” the Arizona
Republican told “Fox News Sunday.”

Earlier this week, President Bush said there was progress
in training Iraq’s troops and that “more and more” of them are
able to fight insurgents.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar
said while there were not enough U.S. troops to keep out
insurgents, sending more probably would not happen.

“It’s very unlikely that we’re going to send more troops to
Iraq. We are going to have to train the Iraqis faster and
harder,” Lugar, an Indiana Republican, said on CNN’s “Late
Edition.”

The senators’ comments followed a report by The Washington
Post on Sunday that said the Bush administration is lowering
its expectations of what it can achieve in Iraq.

The report quoted an unnamed senior official, who said U.S.
officials do not expect Iraq to develop a model democracy, a
self-sustained oil industry or a stable society.

“What we expected to achieve was never realistic given the
timetable or what unfolded on the ground,” the Post report
quoted the official as saying.

Florida Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson, a member of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, said the administration lowered
its expectations because “we were not prepared for the
occupation.”

Nelson, who agreed more U.S. troops are needed, told CNN
Congress should “make sure the administration comes forth with
specific goals and benchmarks and timetables as to what can be
expected in the way of progress of allowing the Iraqi army to
be able to provide their own security.”

Separately, the New York Times on Sunday reported that
Pentagon officials are struggling to replace body armor that
has failed to protect U.S. troops from certain munitions used
by insurgents.

Pentagon spokesman Paul Boyce said there are 500,000 sets
are armor in use but would not say how many were the newer
version. “These field improvements take time,” he said.

The number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq since the March
2003 invasion had reached 1,852 as of Sunday.