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.

    "Mr. Bush's first challenge if he proposes a surge will consequently be to convince the country that the fresh troops would have a vital and achievable mission."

    The editorial said that whether the Bush administration and the Pentagon have the political and logistical capacity to carry out the surge is one of serious questions to be answered.

    "Total U.S. forces in Iraq would grow from fewer than 140,000 to as many as 175,000 and remain at that level indefinitely. Such a deployment would place severe new strains on the Army and probably require the alteration of Pentagon rules limiting the deployments of reservists," the editorial said.

    Noting that "there is no guarantee that the new American forces could stop the mayhem in Baghdad," the article said "it's hard to believe that the political leadership of any of Iraq's main factions (Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish) is ready for compromise."

    "If he chooses escalation, Mr. Bush will have to work a lot harder than he has before to explain the mission that justifies the risk and to build support in Congress and with the public," the editorial concluded.