Send in more troops: US Senators

US Senator John McCain said on Thursday that America should to deploy 15,000 to 30,000 more troops to Iraq to control its sectarian violence and give moderates within the country8217;s

US Senator John McCain said on Thursday that America should to deploy 15,000 to 30,000 more troops to Iraq to control its sectarian violence and give moderates within the country8217;s democratically elected government the stability they need to take Iraq in the right direction.

8220;The American people are disappointed and frustrated with the Iraq war, but they want us to succeed if there8217;s any way to do that,8221; McCain said at a news conference at the US Embassy in Baghdad where he and five other US Congress members are meeting with US and Iraqi officials.

He said conditions in some areas of Iraq had improved since his last visit, but 8220;I believe there is still a compelling reason to have an increase in troops here in Baghdad and in Anbar province in order to bring the sectarian violence under control8221; and to 8220;allow the political process to proceed.8221;

The Arizona Republican said 5 to 10 more brigades of US combat soldiers must be sent to Iraq. Brigades vary in size but generally include about 3,000 troops, meaning he was recommending 15,000 to 30,000 additional forces.

Currently, the US military has about 140,000 troops in Iraq, and Bush is considering a change of strategy in the country, where stepped-up efforts to curtail sectarian violence failed this summer. The current US force includes about 15 combat brigades made up of 50,000-60,000 soldiers, the US military said on Thursday.

McCain has joined other legislators and military analysts in saying that President Bush sent far too few American troops to Iraq after the coalition toppled Saddam Hussein in March 2003, leading to widespread violence at the hands of Sunni Arab insurgent groups and Shi8217;ite militias.

While Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican, said the current US strategy in Iraq has failed, but 8220;I8217;m not yet convinced that additional troops will pave the way to a peaceful Iraq in a lasting sense.8221;

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Senator Joseph Lieberman said the group had met with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shi8217;ite, and urged him to break his ties with anti-US cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.