WASHINGTON, Feb 6 (Reuters) - The Pentagon could boost the number of additional forces being sent to Iraq, adding as many as 3,000 troops to the 21,500 being deployed under the president's war plan, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday. Gates and Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the total number of additional forces being sent to Baghdad and Anbar province could increase by 10 percent to 15 percent. "We think the number is going to be around 21,500," Gates told a Senate panel. "But it would not be more than 10 percent more -- 10 to 15 percent." That would amount to about 3,000 troops. Pace said the additional personnel would support the troops being sent to secure Baghdad and Anbar.
