10,000 to 15,000 Military Backup Requested by the U.S.

Foreign news reported yesterday that the U.S. called upon Korea, Turkey, and Pakistan for sending over 40,000 troops combined to Iraq.

The United Press International, known as UPI, quoted a government source in its report that the U.S. requested 10,000 to 15,000 troops to Korea and Turkey, respectively, while asking for 12,000 soldiers to Pakistan.

Since the request, Korea has been thoroughly reviewing possibly the largest scale dispatch of soldiers since the Vietnam War, when 320,000 Korean soldiers went to war.

The Turkish government is under careful review over the U.S. request, gathering high-ranking politicians and military leadership yesterday at a meeting, said foreign news.

˝Permanent peace and stability in Iraq are in the interest of our country˝, said Abdullah Gul, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey in a interview with a local press, highlighting, ˝a decision to dispatch troops surely is to serve the objective.˝

Peter Pace, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, announced that the U.S. forces stationed in Iraq has shrank from 150,000 to 130,000 over the past four months while foreign forces sent by U.S. allies grew from 120,000 to 240,000.

In the meantime, it was reported that the U.S. request for military backups was refused by India and Brazil for their domestic problems and the lack of military forces. Obstacles are expected to final decisions over the issue in Pakistan and Turkey as opposition grows stronger internally.

maypole@donga.com