WASHINGTON, April 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. Defense Department plans to deploy 12,000 more National Guard members to Iraq and Afghanistan, NBC News reported Thursday.
Citing sources in the Pentagon, the network said papers ordering the deployment need only Defense Secretary Robert Gates' signature. The deployment would run for a year beginning early in 2008, and would involve four combat brigades.
At a news conference Thursday, Gates did not mention deploying additional National Guard forces but suggested that the time table given when President George W. Bush announced the "surge" in Iraq was optimistic.
"I think this was all concealed until we got through the election," said Barry McCaffrey, a retired general and military analyst for NBC News. "There's no way to sustain the current rate of deployments without calling up probably nine National Guard brigades in the coming year for involuntary second tours."
