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| Iraq |
| Pentagon to delay departure of brigade from Iraq |
| 2006-09-26 |
| WASHINGTON - The US military, seeking to maintain its current elevated troop levels in Iraq, will delay the departure of roughly 3,500 soldiers serving in the volatile Ramadi area, defense officials said on Monday. The soldiers are from a brigade of the Army’s 1st Armored Division, based in Germany, that was due to have left Iraq in January, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the decision has not been formally announced. They will be kept over “less than two months” past their scheduled departure date and are now set to serve roughly 13 months, longer than the US policy of 12-month tours of duty in Iraq for Army soldiers, one official said. The soldiers are serving in Ramadi, capital of Anbar province in western Iraq, heartland of the Sunni Arab insurgency. |
| Posted by:Steve White |