EXTENDED TOURS FOR 3,500 SOLDIERS IN IRAQ

My heart and prayers go out to these soldiers and all the soldiers in Iraq. They, above anyone, can see things there are getting worse and worse. And I'd think, at this point, they are wondering......what the hell are we doing here? Yesterday, in the east Baghdad neighborhood of Karada, 31 peopled were killed and 153 wounded. The violence is unrelenting.

By Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 28, 2006; Page A21

Defense Department officials announced yesterday that the Army's 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, which has been deployed in Mosul since last summer, will be extended for as long as 120 days to boost security in Baghdad.

The Alaska-based 172nd has been in northern Iraq, which has been relatively peaceful, compared with the most restive areas of the country. But the extension means that about 3,700 troops who had been planning to return home over the next two weeks probably will remain for at least the next six weeks and possibly as long as four months, this time in the most violent area of the country, officials said.

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