MORE HOPE FOR 1AD TO COME HOME!

The Pentagon will increase the number of U.S. troops in Iraq to around 145,000 this summer, from the current 140,000, in recognition of the continued difficulty coalition forces are having in providing security leading up to the hand-over of political power to Iraqis on June 30...

The new troops will come from the Marine Corps, which will move up a deployment originally planned for this fall and send 5,000 Marines to Iraq by August. The first troops in that contingent — 2,200 Marines from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit — have already left their home base in San Diego for Iraq.