Just days after taking control of Congress, Democratic lawmakers warned that U.S. President George W. Bush, pictured Jan. 04. 2007, will not get a blank check to expand the number of U.S. troops in violence-wracked Iraq .(AFP Photo) Photo Gallery >>>

    WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President George W. Bush's new Iraq plan calls for sending 20,000 more U.S. troops to Baghdad, and creating more jobs for Iraqis, The New York Times reported on Sunday.

    Quoting U.S. officials, the report said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has agreed with Bush to match the U.S. troop increase, made up of five combat brigades, by sending three additional Iraqi brigades to Baghdad.

    Bush is expected to make the plan public this week, probably on Wednesday in an address to the nation.

    Besides the troop surge, another crucial element of the plan is a job program costing as much as one billion U.S. dollars to employ Iraqis in reconstruction schemes, including painting schools and cleaning streets.

    By doing so, the Bush administration intends to show that its new strategy will emphasize rebuilding as much as fighting.

As of Sunday, Jan. 7, 2007, at least 3,011 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery >>>

    The most immediate element of the job program will be a major expansion of a program that provides money to local officers to put civilians to work as a way of reducing resistance to the U.S. presence in neighborhoods.

    The new effort, officials said, will cost up to 1 billion dollars, part of which will be spent on other efforts to achieve stability and train Iraqis for more permanent jobs.

    However, even in outlining the new Iraq plan, some U.S. officials acknowledged deep skepticism about whether it could succeed.

    Previous U.S. reconstruction efforts in Iraq have failed to translate into support from the Iraqi population, and some Republicans as well as Democratic leaders have questioned whether a troop increase will do more than postpone the inevitable and precarious moment when Iraqi forces have to stand on their own.

    The call for an increase in troops will also put Bush in a direct confrontation with leaders of the new Democrat-controlled Congress, who said in a letter to the president on Thursday that the United States should move instead toward a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops, to begin within four months.

    In theory, the Congress has the power to halt Bush's plan by cutting off financial support.

    Related:

    Leading U.S. newspaper has doubts about troop increase in Iraq

    WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President George W. Bush will have to convince Congress and Americans that a troop increase in Iraq makes sense when he unveils a new strategy for Iraq, which is expected this week, the Washington Post said in an editorial on Sunday.

    "It's well known that many senior American generals, including the outgoing commanders of American forces in Iraq and the Middle East, have resisted a troop increase," the editorial said. Full story>>>