US 'planning to keep 50,000 troops in Iraq for many years'

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/12/wirq12.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/06/12/ixnews.html

US 'planning to keep 50,000 troops in Iraq for many years'

America plans to retain a garrison of 50,000 troops, one tenth of its entire army, in Iraq for years to come, according to US media reports.

The revelation came as George W Bush summoned his top political, military and intelligence aides to a summit on Iraq's future today at the presidential retreat at Camp David.

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Military planners have begun to assess the costs of keeping a 50,000-man force in Iraq for a protracted period of time. At present the total number of serving American troops is about 500,000.

The plan has not yet received presidential approval. But it would fit with the administration's belief that while troops numbers will fall, American forces will have to remain in Iraq beyond Mr Bush's departure from the White House in early 2009.