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7,000 reinforcements won’t be Marines

Ground commanders in Iraq are calling for 7,000 additional reinforcements for the ongoing buildup of 21,500 U.S. troops in Iraq, but none will be Marines, the Corps said Monday.

“The Marine Corps contribution to the surge in Iraq remains the same, two infantry battalions and a Marine expeditionary unit, at approximately 4,000 Marines,” said Corps spokesman Capt. Jay Delarosa.

Defense officials announced late last week the plans to send the 7,000 troops as support for the additional troops President Bush called up in January. The move involves significantly fewer people than the Congressional Budget Office’s recent assessment that 27,000 troops would be needed for support, but goes against earlier promises made by Pentagon officials that additional support troops would not be needed for the buildup.

Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England told a Senate panel last week that commanders on the ground in Iraq have asked for 6,000 to 7,000 additional support troops.

“It is a war going on,” England told the Senate Budget Committee at the March 1 hearing. “Things are going to happen, and people are going to request troops.”