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Some U.S. Troops May Stay Longer in Iraq

American forces are in the midst of a rotation, as troops who have been there a year are replaced by fresh forces. That gives the United States the advantage of thousands of extra forces there during the switch over to deal with new fighting that has broken out in cities across the country.

"We're taking advantage of that increase, and we will likely be managing the pace of the redeployments to allow those seasoned troops with experience and relationships with the local populations to see the current situation through," Rumsfeld said.

Officials stressed that no decision on troops had not been made.

Abizaid has been looking into the question of where additional troops would come from, should they be needed. Abizaid spoke with President Bush (news - web sites) and his national security team via a secure video conference call Wednesday and did not ask for extra troops, a senior defense official said after the news conference.

Asked if orders to go home had been put on hold, the official said, "Not yet." That official spoke on condition of anonymity.

"Not yet"... but we know the truth!!!! Bwahahahaha!!