Bush to add 8,200 troops to Iraq, Afghanistan

March 11, 2007
Bush to add 8,200 troops to Iraq, Afghanistan

ANCHORENA PARK, Uruguay — President Bush approved 8,200 more U.S. troops for Iraq and Afghanistan on top of reinforcements already ordered to those two countries, the White House said Saturday, a move that comes amid a fiery debate in Washington over the Iraq war.

The president is sending 4,700 troops to Iraq in addition to the 21,500 he ordered in January, mainly to provide additional support and to handle more Iraqi prisoners than anticipated. He also decided to send a 3,500-member brigade to Afghanistan to accelerate training of local forces, doubling his previous troop increase to fight a resurgent Taliban.