Washington is poised to order thousands of troops to prepare for duty in Iraq next year, US officials said, as Britain's top envoy in Baghdad warned of difficult months ahead because of persistent guerrilla attacks.
"I believe we are in for a rough winter," Jeremy Greenstock told Britain's Times newspaper.
He said insurgents "want to try and close Baghdad down and make it look as though Iraq can't work with coalition forces," and added British troops could still be in Iraq in 2005.
Faced with daily guerrilla attacks and a string of suicide bombings, the US has been pushing for more countries to share the burden of policing Iraq, but with limited success.
US officials did not give the number of American troops being called up for Iraq, but said they would include Marines as well as two regular Army divisions, the 1st Infantry Division in Germany and the 1st Cavalry Division from Fort Hood, Texas.
US Marine Corps General Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stressed that the troops would be part of a 2004 Iraq rotation plan, and that the 132,000 American troops now there could decrease to just over 100,000 in May.
"We will be talking to Congress this afternoon and issuing orders tonight and having press briefings tomorrow on the next rotation of forces," Pace told the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee on Wednesday.
"It does include a call-up of reserves, it does include use of land forces, it does include the Navy and Air Force."
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