from: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0428pentagon28.html
U.S. force of 125,000 sought
Tom Squitieri
USA Today
Apr. 28, 2003 12:00 AM
WASHINGTON - Pentagon planners say a U.S. force of 125,000 soldiers is likely to be needed for at least a year to stabilize Iraq until a new government can take charge and provide security.
But the size of the postwar force in Iraq remains under discussion, planners and military analysts say. Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of the Iraq operation, said Sunday that the number of troops needed in Iraq now has not been decided.
The United States fielded a force of 260,000 for the Iraq war. That included ground, air and sea combat forces and tens of thousands of logistical support personnel.
The Pentagon does not reveal troop locations and numbers, but people with knowledge of current and likely deployments said U.S. troops will be clustered in obvious areas - 17,000 to 20,000 in Baghdad, 10,000 in the north, 17,000 in Basra and the south - and augmented with smaller groups elsewhere in the country.
Some will be at Umm Qasr, Iraq's only seaport.
The outgoing Army chief of staff, Gen. Eric Shinseki, told Congress in March that several hundred thousand could be needed.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said a much smaller force would suffice.
If postwar Iraq remains generally peaceful and stable, the force could drop to 60,000 troops in a year, military officials said.
The size and duration of the force could increase if there is political or religious unrest or if Iraq's neighbors interfere, experts said.
"They don't know how many more (self-appointed) 'mayors' are going to step forward," said John Pike of GlobalSecurity.org, an intelligence and military policy think tank.
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