Bremer requests more troops as violence, tension escalate

Bremer's request underscores how difficult it has been for his small civilian staff and some 158,000 U.S.-led troops to meet the demands of Iraqis for security and other basic needs. It also conflicts with upbeat public statements from President Bush, Rumsfeld and Bremer himself on the progress made on Iraq's political and economic reconstruction.

The Pentagon has been looking for three international divisions, about 60,000 troops. The deployment was being held up because Pakistan and other countries said they couldn't afford it.

Rumsfeld doesn't want to send more than the 146,000 American soldiers already in Iraq, and the issue is being fiercely debated, the U.S. officials said.

"It is inconceivable that Rumsfeld and (Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul) Wolfowitz are fighting this because it would mean admitting they were wrong," said a senior administration official.

He was referring to a rejection by Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz of an estimate by former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki that several hundred thousand U.S. troops would be required to ensure stability in post-Saddam Iraq.