US military commander: extra troops needed into summer 2008

If the US troop build-up in Iraq is reversed before the the middle of 2008, the military will risk giving up the security gains it has achieved at a cost of hundreds of American lives over the past six months, the commander of US forces south of Baghdad said today.

Maj Gen Richard Lynch, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, mentioned none of the proposals in Congress for beginning to withdraw US troops as soon as September.