The U.S. military is considering sending hundreds of soldiers from a force held in reserve in Kuwait into Iraq to provide extra security as Iraq prepares to seat a new government, a defense official said Friday. The soldiers are from a force in Kuwait that is ready for rapid reaction to problems in Iraq or for use to bolster security for certain situations, the official told Reuters. The official said commanders are considering sending an Army battalion task force to Baghdad and surrounding areas to augment security. The move would duplicate one made in March when the United States sent about 650 soldiers into Iraq from a unit in Kuwait. Army Lieutenant General Peter Ciarelli, the second-ranking general and top operational commander in Iraq, told reporters at the Pentagon from Iraq on Friday that sectarian violence in Iraq had increased in the last two weeks.
