BAGHDAD, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- The deputy commander of the Multinational Corps-Iraq agreed more troops are useful there but said any "surge" should cover all aspects of the Iraq campaign.
And, some of those extra troops are expected to be Iraqis, British Maj. Gen. Simon Mayall said.
"What we need in a counterinsurgency operation is a surge across every element of the campaign, every line of operation," Mayall said in a hookup from Iraq with reporters at the Pentagon.
Mayall said a surge is needed in the Iraqi government, in the ministerial capacity to carry out responsibilities, in economy activity.
"So this is a complex issue," he said. "So I don't wish, when we talk 'surge,' to simply think in bald terms of more American soldiers."
No commander would turn down additional troops who enable one to "prioritize instead of sequencing operations," he said.
"I think 2007 is going to be a battle of wills here," he said.
