The commander of US ground forces in Iraq, Lieutenant General David McKiernen, sent a request to the Pentagon to send airborne units consisting of 700 troops to Iraq to strengthen the supply line in southern Iraq, which is regularly attacked by Iraqi paramilitary Fedayeen units, reports CBS News. In the near future, the 2nd Regiment of Airmobile Troops from the Fort Polk base in Louisiana and the 3rd Regiment of Airmobile Troops from the base Fort Carson (Colorado) will be sent there.

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, in turn, said that the buildup of coalition forces in Iraq was planned in advance and was not related to the course of the military campaign. "We are increasing the number of our forces in Iraq every day," he said.

Meanwhile, American military analysts from the very beginning of the military operation criticized the tactics of the Allied command. According to experts, the coalition forces were too small for the offensive. “This is the lowest number of troops against enemy forces ever engaged in a ground operation in a century,” said Lauren Thompson, an analyst at the Lexington Virginia Institute. “Essentially, the United States is attacking a dozen Iraqi divisions with two of its own.”

In response to this, a representative of the US Department of Defense announced a sufficient number of military personnel of the anti-Iraqi coalition to carry out the planned operations. He also declared the qualitative superiority of the Allied army over Saddam Hussein's guard. According to him, American troops can control the situation in Iraqi cities without occupying them. “We are not interested in occupying street by street, house by house,” the representative noted. US Commander T. Franks also reported that American troops were rapidly advancing in the direction of Baghdad and therefore were bypassing enemy concentration areas.

US command in Iraq asks for help