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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (25771)	8/19/2003 11:13:30 AM
From: Rick Faurot	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Sen. McCain: More Troops Needed to Tackle Iraq Tue August 19, 2003 09:35 AM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leading Republican Sen. John McCain said on Tuesday the United States needed additional troops in Iraq to deal with increasingly more sophisticated attacks against U.S. forces and strategic targets. McCain, a member of the Senate's Armed Services Committee, said from Baghdad where he met U.S. civilian governor Paul Bremer and U.S. generals that troops had a tough time ahead of them and needed help. "I don't think any of us -- including them (U.S. troops) -- anticipated the amount and sophistication of these attacks," the Arizona senator told NBC's "Today" show. "I think they may need more people, both in the military overall and perhaps here on the ground. That's one of the things, I think, we will be looking at," he added. McCain, a Vietnam War veteran, did not specify how many more troops he thought were needed. According to the Pentagon, there are currently about 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. A big explosion also ripped through the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad on Tuesday, wounding dozens of people and killing at least three people, witnesses said. McCain spoke shortly before the blast. Since the start of May, when President Bush officially declared major hostilities over in Iraq, 61 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq. In the latest ambush on U.S. troops, a rocket-propelled grenade and gun attack on a U.S. convoy north of Baghdad wounded two American soldiers early on Tuesday, the U.S. military said. While most Iraqis were relieved Saddam Hussein had been ousted, McCain said they were frustrated at the level of services such as electricity and water. "Then when you layer on top of that, a group of criminals, Baathists and outright terrorists and we have a significant problem here. We cannot afford to lose this. We need to do whatever is necessary," McCain said. He said the American people needed to be told how tough the job was in Iraq, adding that he believed they had been misled so far. "I am convinced we can prevail but I also think we need to tell the American people that we cannot afford to fail and that is why we will have to do what is necessary and a significant expenditure of American blood." McCain also reiterated previous demands for more information over how much the U.S. operation in Iraq would cost.