The day-to-day commander of American forces in Iraq has recommended that the heightened American troop levels there should be maintained through February 2008, The New York Times reported on Thursday.

The confidential recommendation by the commander, Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, reflects the military's new counterinsurgency doctrine, which puts a premium on sustained efforts to try to win over a wary population, the report said, citing military officials.

The recommendation also stems from the complex logistics of deploying the five additional combat brigades that are being sent to Iraq as part of what the White House calls a "surge" of forces.

Odierno had provided his assessment to his superior, Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, but Petraeus has not yet made a formal recommendation to the Pentagon, according to the report.

The White House has never said exactly how long it intends the troop buildup to last, but military officials say the increased American force level will begin declining in August unless additional units are sent or more units are held over.

President George W. Bush has often said he will listen closely to advice from commanders in the field in making decisions about strategy and manpower in Iraq, but Pentagon officials emphasized on Wednesday that no decision to extend the "surge" had been made.

In both the House and the Senate, most Democrats and many Republicans have made clear their opposition even to the current troop increase, and a decision by the White House to extend its duration would probably intensify the political debate over the war.

When Bush announced his troop buildup in January, he said the government was sending 21,500 troops to Iraq. Since then, the Pentagon has said that as many as 7,000 additional support soldiers would also be deployed, including some 2,200 additional military police that Petraeus, who took command in Iraq last month, had asked for to handle an anticipated increase in detainees. These increases would bring the total number of U.S. troops in Iraq to around 160,000.

Source: Xinhua