Forward Together II (Treading water in Iraq)

No more trainers, no change in tactics, no effort to turn security over to the Iraqis. Just triple the number of US combat troops in Baghdad and hope for the best.

The Bush administration is considering an increase in troop levels in Iraq of 17,000 to 20,000,......

Most of the additional troops would probably be employed in and around Baghdad, the officials said.

With the continuing high levels of violence there, senior officials increasingly say additional American forces will be needed as soon as possible to clear neighborhoods and to conduct other combat operations to regain control of the capital, rather than primarily to train Iraqi forces.