Pentagon: Less Troops to Iraq, More to Afghanistan

By Prensa Latina,

Washington : US Defense Secretary Robert Gates will propose to President George W. Bush to reduce the number of troops in Iraq to send them to Afghanistan, CNN television network revealed on Tuesday.


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The news company, which quoted military sources, said the Pentagon’s head will meet Bush the coming week to present the proposal to him.

The CNN said the plan was elaborated by the Central Command head, Gen. David Petraeus, in charge of leading the military operations in both countries.

Partial withdrawal from Iraq will happen between the coming six and eight months, although the exact number of troops that will leave that Arab country is still unknown.

There are around 150 US soldiers currently deployed in that Persian Gulf nation, while some 35,000 are stationed in Afghanistan.

The US military top commands and congresspeople have demanded in recent months that the Bush administration sends more troops to Afghanistan, faced with increase of actions by armed groups.

Due to that situation, in the recent NATO summit, held in Romania, Bush urged his allies to send more troops to that Central Asian nation, although his proposal was not supported.

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