- WASHINGTON -- In a surprise
move, the US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, has bowed to calls to
increase the strength of the army, the Pentagon said yesterday.
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- The move is intended to ease the pressure on a military
force spread thin across the globe by the war on terror. Invoking emergency
powers, Mr Rumsfeld has authorised the army to exceed its fixed ceiling
of 482,000 by an extra 30,000 men and women. The temporary expansion could
last four years.
-
- The expansion will probably be achieved by a mixture
of measures to prevent soldiers from leaving and giving more of the army's
support functions to civilian contractors, freeing uniformed personnel
for combat.
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- © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2004.
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