Bush plans to boost U.S. military - Military Affairs - MSNBC.com

Bush plans to boost U.S. military - Military Affairs - MSNBC.com: "WASHINGTON - President Bush said Tuesday he plans to increase the overall size of the U.S. military, which has been stretched by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, so it can fight a long-term battle against terrorism.

Bush said he has asked his new defense chief, Robert Gates, to report back to him with a plan to increase ground forces. The president did not say how many troops might be added, but he said he agreed with officials in the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill that the military is stretched too thin to deal with demands of fighting terrorism.

“I’m inclined to believe that we do need to increase our troops — the Army, the Marines,” Bush told The Washington Post in an Oval Office interview. “And I talked about this to Secretary Gates and he is going to spend some time talking to the folks in the building, come back with a recommendation to me about how to proceed forward on this idea.”" Read complete post here.