Pentagon: US force in Iraq swells to 150,000

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=18059

With the US death toll in Iraq passing 100 this month and mid-term elections just days away, the Pentagon said Monday the US force in Iraq has grown to 150,000 troops, the biggest it has been since January.

A Pentagon spokesman attributed the growth to overlapping unit rotations, but it came amid surging violence that so far this month has claimed the lives of 103 US troops and many more Iraqis.

"Several units are transitioning out as several are transitioning in," said Lieutenant Colonel Mark Ballesteros, who said that as of Monday the number of US troops in Iraq was 150,000.

A Pentagon official, who asked not to be named, said the US Army's 4th Infantry Division was near the end of its year-long rotation.

[soothsayer]

1. sounds like 4th infantry is close to getting an extended stay in

iraq