(Amerika) United States Army

[Jacks]

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US Senate votes to add 20,000 troops to Army

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Defying the Bush administration, the Senate voted overwhelmingly Thursday to add 20,000 troops to an Army stretched thin by the war in Iraq and other commitments around the world.

The 93-4 vote in the Republican-led Senate -- following a similar action by the House -- reflected the anxieties lawmakers have been hearing from families of service personnel whose tours in Iraq keep getting extended and whose return to civilian life is repeatedly postponed.

Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, said the lack of troops at the end of major combat in Iraq cost the military an opportunity to stop the violence that continues today.

"We didn't have enough people on the ground, and now we are paying a very, very heavy price for that incredible mistake on the part of the civilian leadership in the Pentagon of the United States of America," he said.

The increase was approved as an amendment to a $447 billion defense authorization bill. Under the proposal by Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, the size of the Army would increase by about 4 percent, to 502,400. Congressional aides estimated the cost at $1.7 billion.
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