Bush to Address Us on New Iraq Strategy

The first wave of additional US troops is set to arrive in Iraq at the end of the month, it was reported today, with George Bush scheduled to lay out his "new strategy" for the conflict in a televised address tonight.

The president's address comes amid growing public disillusionment with his handling of the war. Most Americans oppose sending more troops, with widespread scepticism about their ability to improve the situation.

Reports in the US media said the first reinforcements - around 3,500 troops - would come from the 2nd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division, now in Kuwait.

Congressional leaders briefed by Mr Bush said up to 20,000 extra troops would be sent to Baghdad and the western province of Anbar in an attempt to tackle the increasing insurgency.

The US president is also considering turning responsibility for security in all 18 provinces over to the Iraqis by November. Only three provinces are currently under Iraqi government control.

Troop increases would come in phases during the next few months, combined with "benchmarks" for the Iraqi government focusing on reconciliation between Shia and Sunni Muslims.

The new plan also calls for up to $1bn (£500m) in economic aid for public works projects.

In sending more troops to Iraq, Mr Bush has turned his back on the recommendations of the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group.

The ISG report, released last month, recommended a withdrawal of most combat troops by the start of 2008 and the start of a diplomatic initiative involving holding talks with Iran and Syria.

The president is also pushing ahead with military escalation despite the Republican losses in the November midterm elections that handed over control of Congress to the Democrats.

The Iraqi prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, has not asked for more US troops. In a November meeting with Mr Bush, Mr Maliki presented plans to lower the US military profile in Baghdad and increase his government's own security efforts.

However, Mr Bush has concluded that more troops are vital to efforts to quell sectarian strife in Baghdad and buy time for political reconciliation and other reforms.

Tonight, the president is expected to tell the US public that "we have to go up before we go down".

Yesterday, he warned House Democrats that US credibility would be shattered if it withdrew its troops, forcing close ally Saudi Arabia to look elsewhere for protection and potentially destabilising Egypt, the Washington Post said.

Democrats in both the House and the Senate said they would actively oppose the Bush plan. The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, said the chamber would debate and vote next week on a resolution opposing any increase in US troop strength in Iraq.

However, to avoid accusations that they are pulling the rug from under US troops, Democrats are unlikely to go along with a plan, proposed by Senator Ted Kennedy, to withhold funding for a troop increase.

Critics say the revamped US strategy, which puts an emphasis on counter-insurgency tactics, requires many more troops than envisaged, claiming a temporary increase of 20,000 or even 30,000 troops would be insufficient.

In all, the US army has around 500,000 troops and the Marines around 180,000, but because of training requirements and commitments elsewhere, only a portion of those forces are available for Iraq.

One analyst, TX Hammes, a retired Marine colonel who has written a book on insurgencies, described the proposed troop increase as a "dribble" rather than a surge.

"If it's only 20,000 or 30,000 ... it won't work," Col Hammes told USA Today. "If we're serious about winning, we've got to talk 300,000 [total] armed coalition forces over a minimum of four years. Otherwise, don't commit more troops."

The US currently has around 132,000 troops in Iraq and has suffered 3,000 military deaths since the 2003 invasion.