WASHINGTON, March 7 (UPI) -- The 21,500 additional U.S. troops being deployed to Iraq as part of U.S. President George Bush's security "surge" may need 7,000 more, the Pentagon said.
Speaking to the U.S. House of Representatives budget committee on Tuesday, Deputy Defense Minister Gordon England said the number will depend on what military commanders in Iraq request.
"Our expectation is the number of support troops could go above 21,500 by about 4,000, maybe as many as 7,000, if the commanders on the ground request and they are all validated," England said.
He rejected a claim by the Congressional Budget Office that the surge would require an additional 15,000-28,000 support personnel, a Financial Times correspondent reported.
England told the committee the estimated cost of the troops above the original 21,500 would be around $1 billion.
The joint U.S. and Iraqi security sweep is in its third week in Baghdad and is projected to expand into the restive Anbar province to the west of the capital where Shiite and Sunni Muslims are fighting.
