Newsweek reports:
In a surprise twist in the debate over Iraq, Rep. Silvestre Reyes, the soon-to-be chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said he wants to see an increase of 20,000 to 30,000 U.S. troops as part of a stepped up effort to "dismantle the militias." Like Reyes, McCain also has called for an increase in U.S. troop strength. When asked how many additional troops he envisioned sending to Iraq, Reyes replied: "I would say 20,000 to 30,000, for the specific purpose of making sure those militias are dismantled, working in concert with the Iraqi military." When a reporter suggested that was not a position that was likely to be popular with many House Democrats, Reyes replied: „Well again, I differ in that I don‚t want Iraq to become the next Afghanistan. We could not allow Iraq to become a safe haven for Al Qaeda, for Hamas, for Hizbullah, or anybody else. We cannot allow Iran or Syria to have a free hand in there to further destabilize the Middle East."
Is 20,000-30,000 enough and for how long? As Tom Donnelly of the Center for Strategic and International Studies notes, "a troop surge is necessary to stave off defeat; a larger surge is better than a small one; a long surge is better than a short one. It's hard to win a long war with a small force."